Of Heroes and XMen
by JC Fabulous
Summary: Heroes/X-Men Crossover The Characters of Heroes meet with the Heores and Villians of X-Men.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own either "_Heroes_" or _"__The X-Men__."_ _"__Heroes__"_ was created by Tim Kring and all characters and trademarks are the properties of NBC Studios. _"__The X-Men__"_ was created by Stan Lee and all characters and trademarks are the properties of Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.

_**Of Heroes and X-Men**_

**Chapter One**

_**Four Months Later…**_

"_Mutation, it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow and normally taking thousands upon thousands of years, but every few hundred millennia evolution leaps forward."_

– **Charles Xavier**

**Northern Alberta, Canada.**

A young girl with red hair, named Marie, was dressed in a long green coat stepped out of the big rig truck into the blistering snow. Carrying only her duffle bag with her few meager belongings, she pulled the hood of her coat over her head she looked around. This wasn't the place she expected to be.

"Excuse me, but I thought you said you would take me as far as Lophlin City." She said

"This is Lophlin City." The trucker said, who was kind enough to pick her up from the side of the road a few miles back. Apparently Lophlin City was a truck stop, and not an actual city.

"Great this sucks, now where am I going to go?" she said to herself as she made her way into the bar.

She was far too young to be in a place like this, but she hoped that no one would notice and force her to leave, especially in this weather. As she walked in she noticed that it wasn't just a bar, it was some sort of underground fight arena too. There was a cage in the middle of the establishment where two men were going at it like mad dogs and the people on the outside of the cage were howling like wilds animals. The stench of alcohol, smoke, and general body odor filled the place. Grown men bumped into her without even glance or an apology as they screamed for more violence. This was definitely not the kind of place she would want to get stuck in. It was far too rowdy and dangerous for someone like her.

Looking at the fighters in the cage she couldn't understand why people could become so excited over seeing two grown men beat each other into a bloody pulp. One of the men was taller than the other, older too by the look of it with a strange looking hair style that kind of swooped slightly at the sides, and was in good physical condition with well toned muscles. The other was smaller than the first and younger looking, short black hair and just as well conditioned and defined as the fist man. Both fighters were locked in a wrestling match upon the ground trying to gain the upper hand on each other, their rippling muscles flexing and bulging every time they moved. Their naked torsos were glistening with sweat as the light from the ceiling bounced off and showed just exactly how physically fit they really were. Suddenly she felt a sudden pang of excitement in watching these two men entangle themselves with one another and was actually starting to enjoy watching the fight as well. Although she would expect that everyone else was enjoying it for completely different reasons.

"Man I can't believe this!" She overheard one of the guys next to her say. "They've been at it like this for half an hour now! This is the best fights I've ever seen."

"Yeah, but they can't keep it up forever, I think the little guy is about call it quits!" shouted the man standing next to him.

"I bet you twenty bucks that the little guy is going to win this fight!" the first guy shouted

"You're on man!" the second man agreed.

"This fight kicks ass!" Shouted the first man again, Marie looked back at the fight from the two men beside her and focused on what was happening inside the cage.

Inside the ring however, the fighters had a completely dissimilar view of the match at hand.

"_Man this guy just won't go down, it's like punching a piece of iron."_ Thought the smaller man as he was body slammed into the hard floor. _"Okay this sucks, I got to try something or I'm going to lose."_

As the taller man rose up to throw a punch, undoubtedly at his face, the smaller man kicked his leg over the other man's shoulder and neck, locking his ankle underneath his other leg's thigh and calf. Grabbing his opponent by the back of his head, he pulled down on it as hard as he could without breaking neck, and squeezed his thighs together attempting to cut off the blood flow in the arteries in his neck and make him pass out, or tap out. Whichever happened to come first. It seemed as though it was going to work, the taller guy's face was turning red and he couldn't find a way to break the hold, but just as it seemed that victory was in his grasp something unexpected happened.

With his free hand, the taller man grabbed the smaller man by the waist of the pants and stood up suddenly using his strength to throw the smaller man over his shoulders behind him, breaking the little man's hold, and sent him barreling into the cage. Dropping to one knee the taller man rubbed his neck and was breathing heavily, visibly pissed off that he was nearly choked out by this little runt. Before the runt was able to make it to his feet, the taller man leaped into the air with a renewed sense of purpose and landed a knee square into the little man's back.

Yelling in pain the smaller man was suddenly yanked to his feet by his hair and was slammed back into the floor face first. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose as he was picked up again, but injuries never bothered him, they'd heal. Before he could be slammed into the floor once more, he took a quick step backwards into his opponent and head butted him with the back of his head right into his nose. The shock of it made the taller man lose his grip and was met with an elbow in his diaphragm, doubling him over.

The smaller man then took the advantage and landed a solid kick into the taller man's face that sent him spiraling backwards into the cage. The rattle of metal and the sight of blood invigorated the crowd and they screamed for more. The taller man used the spring back from the metal cage and launched himself forward, throwing himself into a barrel roll beneath the little man's attempted punch as he swung and missed, and emerged behind him. Sweeping a kick that took the little man's feet that landed him flat on his back. Taking the opportunity the taller man grabbed the smaller man's arm and it between his thighs, his legs on top of the other man's chest and throat in an armbar. Leaning back the taller man could feel strain and tear of the smaller man muscles in his arm.

"_That's right bub, you fought a good fight but now it's time to give up and walk away like a good little boy."_ He thought to himself. Then suddenly a jolt of pain shot through his leg as the little man bit into it.

"Argh!" He cried as he pulled his leg away, allowing the smaller man to break free of the armbar and roll away. "You little shit, you bit me!" he shouted and rubbed his leg.

"No rules remember." The smaller man smirked.

"Okay kid if that's the way you want it," He said as they both rose from the ground to their feet, "then that's the way you'll get it. No more Mr. Nice Guy."

"Really? Because I thought you were pretty mean already." The little man said with a slight smile on his face.

"Right." The taller man had to admit, the little man had balls.

Launching themselves at each other, each of the two men landed solid blows to the other ones face. Stumbling back, the taller man regained his footing first and landed a few more punches to the smaller man's face. Blood and sweat flew from his brow, as he was forced back against the metal cage again. The taller man grabbed him from behind his head and landed a very powerful knee strike into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As the first knee went down, the other one came up and landed in his face, the force of the blow snapping his head backwards. Temporarily blinded by the knee strike, he was vulnerable and fell victim to several hard blows to his ribs and jaw. The last punch to his jaw knocked him to the ground, but it also gave him the slimmest opportunity to escape his opponent's wrath.

As the taller man stepped in to finish the fight, the smaller man kicked his foot upwards between the taller man's groin, and a collective moan and "ooohhhhh" was heard from the crowd. The taller man's body began to tremble as pain flooded his nervous system. His face turned red as he nearly puked onto the floor.

"_Okay Peter, if you don't finish this guy right now, you're going to lose this fight. I didn't want to use this much strength, but if I don't I'm going to get pummeled."_ The smaller man thought to himself, and took the offensive and quickly jumped to his feet and threw a solid right uppercut under the taller man's jaw that sent him flying backwards into the cage. _"Please stay down, please stay down."_ He thought to himself. His prayers were answered as the taller man did not get up from the floor.

Back in the crowd, they cheered as just having witnessed one of the most awesome fights they had ever seen as the announcer's voice came over the loud speaker. "Ladies and gentleman, the winner of tonight's bout and king of the cage, Peter Petrelli."

"See I told you the little guy was going to win, now pay up!" shouted the man standing next to Marie and accidentally spilling some beer on her shoulders, but obviously not noticing it. She wiped it off with her gloved hands and walked away from the pair.

A few hours had passed and the bar was now empty for the most part, the only ones left were the people who worked there, a couple of customers and the two fighters who took part in the last fight. She sat at the bar, staring at a tip jar on the counter. She had no money and they small amount that was in that jar was becoming ever more tempting.

"You need anything honey?" said the bartender as he slid the tip jar further away from her.

"Uh, just water please." She answered timidly.

Catching a glance of a figure coming closer in her peripheral vision, she turned to see one of the fighters coming out from the back and sat at the end of the bar.

"Beer." He said. It was the taller fighter; his voice was deep and husky. He took out a few dollars and threw it on the counter and then pulled a cigar from his jacket pocket and lit it. Then the other came from a different part of the bar and sat down on a stool in between Marie and the tall fighter.

"Beer please." He asked, and looked over to the taller man. "Name's Peter." He said, extending his hand over to him.

The other fighter looked at it for a second and eventually shook his hand, "Logan."

"No hard feelings?" said Peter

"For what?"

"Losing the fight."

"Oh they're hard feelings alright, I don't like losing. Especially to someone younger and smaller than me, but I've got to admit you're a lot tougher than you look kid and I respect that." Said Logan.

"Thanks." Said Peter

The bartender placed the beers they ordered in front of them and took the money. Marie couldn't help but to stare at the men. Both of them strong and powerful guys, that much was evident, but neither one of them had any injuries on their faces. No scars, scratches, bruises or anything. After the beating they gave each other there should've been something to show for it, but there wasn't a single mark on them. Just then a small group of men, all them with bruises, came walking up to the bar behind both Peter and Logan.

"I think you guys owe us some money." One of them said, a tall bald man in a denim jacket.

"You guys lost, get over it and move on." Said Logan

"No one can take a beating you guys did and not have a mark to show for it." Said the bald man

"Like the man said, you guys lost earlier tonight. So just accept it and move on." Said Peter, he'd already been in enough fights for tonight and he really didn't want to get in another one if he can avoid it. Suddenly the bald man pulled a knife out and attempted to stab Logan in the back.

"Look out!" Marie shouted as she spotted the knife.

Logan jumped out of the away and threw the guy up against a thick wooden support pole next to the bar, two adamantium claws shot forward on either side of the bald man's neck and a third slowly slid forward from his fist, the tip of it resting against his throat. The bald man stood there frozen in fear as he looked into Logan's eyes, the eyes of a wild beast ready to strike.

Then the cocking of a twelve-gauge shotgun was heard as the barrel came into contact with the back of Logan's head. Suddenly however, the shotgun flew out of the bartender's hand and shattered like kindling when it smashed into the far wall, and then the bartender was thrown backwards into the wall as well, crashing into a large mirror, by an unseen force. Logan looked back and noticed Peter with an outstretched hand pointing at where the bartender once was. The other men that had accompanied the bald man quickly stepped away from the both of them and kept their distance.

"I think it's probably a good idea if we leave." Said Peter

"Yeah, probably so." Responded Logan as he looked around at all of the frightened faces of the people in the bar. Sheathing his claws back into his hand and calmly walked out.

Peter stayed behind a few moments longer and pulled out some money from his pocket, "Sorry about the mirror." He said and threw it on the counter.

Walking out of the bar he walked over to his truck, a 1998 Yukon. He got it cheap about four months ago, right after the fight with Sylar in New York. Unlocking the doors he looked up and saw Logan opening the door to his own truck and decided to make his way over.

"Hey." Said Peter

"What?" Said Logan

"Since we're most likely never to see each other again, I just wanted to say good luck, to where ever it is you're going." Said Peter.

Logan smirked, "Sure, why not. Thanks kid." Said Logan and extended his own hand this time. Peter shook his hand in mutual admiration, walked back to his own truck, and the two of them drove off in separate directions.

Everywhere Peter could see there was snow; the entire landscape was covered in it. It was a beautiful sight. He went to turn on the heater when he suddenly smelled the aroma of herbal shampoo; he never used herbal shampoo so he was confused as to where the smell was coming from. He could also hear a heartbeat, it wasn't his, and it was beating fast, as if nervous or scared. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw no one else in his truck so he decided to reach out with his mind instead.

"_Please don't notice me, please don't notice me…"_ were the thoughts that immediately came to him.

Stepping on the brakes to a slow stop, as not to skid on the ice covered road, Peter turned back in his seat and spoke. "Alright, I know you're back there, so just some on out."

Slowly, a figure of a young girl rose from behind the back seat, moving a couple of Peter's duffle bags and a large blanket out of the way.

"Hey, you're the girl from the bar." Said Peter in shock.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I needed a ride and I didn't have any money." She said in a southern accent that Peter actual found quite attractive, ever since he met a certain blonde, teenage cheerleader from Texas.

"How did you get in here?" he asked

"I followed you outside, you and the other guy from the bar. You unlocked your doors and went over to talk to him before he left. So I snuck in your truck and hid back here." She said as she took her hood off.

"Where are your parents?" said Peter

"I… My parents… I'd rather not talk about them…" She said sadly, her eyes pointing downward.

"_Damn a runaway, well whatever trouble this girl is in she obviously doesn't want to talk about it and I can't leave her out here stranded in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold."_ He thought to himself and sighed. "Well, I can't leave you here," he said reluctantly. "Hop up front, at least you can warm your hands in front of the heater."

Marie smiled radiantly and instantly crawled over the backseats into the passenger side seat. The smile she had on her face reminded him momentarily of Claire, and for a second he thought it was her. But he quickly came back to reality and turned on the heater for the young girl and started to drive down the road.

"Thank you so much, I was afraid you'd kick me out." She said as she took her gloves off and put her hands next to the heater.

"Don't worry, I won't kick you out. But I am going to drop you off at whatever town we happen to drive through next okay." He said

"Okay." She smiled. "I don't want to seem ungrateful or anything but, you don't happen to have any food on you or anything do you?"

"Glove box, there should be some beef jerky or chips in there I think." Said Peter.

Marie took the jerky out of the glove box and began devouring them ravenously.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked

"A few days ago."

"A few days ago!?"

"I told you, I don't have any money." She said

"Oh yeah, sorry." Peter felt bad for the girl, no money, and no place to stay; having to hitchhike which in itself can be extremely dangerous if picked up by the wrong person. She could end up dead. Maybe he can't drop her off at the next town after all. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Rogue." She said

"Rogue? What kind of a name is Rogue?"

"It's the kind of name you use when you don't want anyone to find you." She said again in the same sad manner she used only a few minutes ago.

After a few moments of silence he spoke up, "My name is Peter… Peter Petrelli."

"Marie… Anna Marie, but my parents always called me Marie." she said, telling Peter her real name. She liked Peter, cute and strong clearly, but he also seemed to have a kind heart. Not only that but he had powers. Cool powers by what she's seen, not the dangerously one that can kill people like the one she has.

Peter smiled, "Nice to meet you." And he reached over to shake her hand.

"No!" Marie shouted and jumped away.

"I wasn't going to hurt you." Said Peter, shocked by her reaction.

"I'm sorry, it's just… When people touch me, bad things happen." She said, putting her gloves back on.

"Like what?" he asked

"I don't know, they just get hurt." Said Marie

"_They just get hurt? Hmm, maybe that's why she ran away. Maybe she hurt someone and is afraid of being blamed for something she had no control over." _He thought to himself. "Okay, fair enough." He said.

"Your powers… Do they scare you?" she asked, wanting to get to know Peter and his powers a little bit better.

Peter thought about what happened in New York, the fight with Sylar and how he lost control over his powers and nearly destroyed the city. He remembered saving Nathan as was falling from the sky, after Nathan saved him and the city by taking him up there. He took Nathan to the closest hospital, dropping him off to be cared for. "Yeah… Sometimes…" He said, but that was why he left in the first place. He didn't have full control over his powers yet, at least not that one; and he didn't want to anyone to get hurt, or worse killed, because of him. _"Hmm, come to think of it, maybe the two of us have more in common that I thought."_

"How old are you?" he asked

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen in March."

"So where are you from anyway? You're obviously not from around here, but your accent doesn't quite sound like you're from Texas either." Said Peter

Marie stifled a laugh as she chewed on another piece of jerky, "No, I'm not from Texas. I'm from Mississippi."

"A southern girl, I knew it. I'm not trying to hit on you or anything so if it sounds like it I apologize, but I like really southern accents in women. It just makes them seem more attractive, and easy to get along with to me." Peter smiled

"Thank you." She blushed, "You know you should really wear your seatbelt." Marie smiled back.

"I know, but I…"

All of a sudden a tree fell over and came crashing down onto the front end of his truck sending Peter hurdling through the front windshield like a brick through paper. He ended up about thirty yards away waist deep in a sow bank. Pain shooting through his body he was able to crawl out of the snow, his bones and internal organs resetting themselves with ease.

Marie ended up face first in an airbag, her body aching from the crash she looked up to see Peter get to his feet and heal right before her very eyes. All the cuts and lacerations on his body regenerated as if nothing had ever happened, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. _"How many powers does this guy have?"_ she thought to herself.

"Marie! You okay!" Peter shouted

"Yeah I think so!" she yelled back

Peter started making his way back to his truck when he caught a scent in the air, he couldn't explain what it was or how his sense of smell became so much better all of a sudden, but that didn't matter at the moment. The smell wasn't that of an animal, but a person, and his ears caught the sound of footsteps behind the tree line.

Unexpectedly, a monstrous figure of a man leapt forth from that tree line and tackled Peter to the ground. He was very large and powerful, covered in a long furry coat; the man had black eyes, long hair, sharp pointed teeth, and claws on his hands. It grabbed him by his ankles and through him like a rag doll into the woods. Using his powers of flight however, Peter used his momentum to shoot out from the tops of the trees and nailed the man with a solid kick to the face, sending the attacker flying into the air. Still hovering in the air however, a wet spongy substance was abruptly wrapped around his throat tight, and he was yanked from the air into the ground and then picked back up and was sent crashing into a tree. Falling to the ground, Peter looked up to see a second attacker leap high into the air, his skin was a sickly green color, and he wore some sort ratty looking clothes and was jumping from tree top to tree top with marvelous ease. The problem was every time he jumped he sent tree branches crashing to the earth, at him.

As the 'green guy' jumped again, Peter shot up through the tree tops passed him and grabbed him telekinetically and through him as far as he could see. Just as he thought everything was finished, the air around him began to whirl like a tornado. The snow from the ground whipped around him and he couldn't control his altitude anymore and was himself thrown higher into the air. Spinning at that speed made him nauseas and dizzy, he couldn't see and his ears were ringing. He crashed into the snow like a rocket, and created a small crater about the size of a small house. He couldn't keep his head from spinning and was hit from behind, then in the face, the ribs, the face again, and the back. Whoever, or whatever it was, it was moving far too fast for him to see. He closed his eyes and froze time.

Opening his eyes he was took by surprise to see a fist merely a few centimeters from his face. Looking up to see the owner of said fist, he laid his eyes on a man with platinum, almost silver colored hair and blue eyes. He was wearing what appeared to be silvery blue running gear. It was strange though because he wasn't wearing anything to protect him from the cold weather. Oh well it didn't matter, this guy was about to have a big surprise coming his way. He put his hands on the man's shoulder and teleported him about one-thousand feet into the air and about two-hundred miles away.

"This should be good enough, silver boy." He smirked to himself and teleported himself back.

Looking around, Peter saw that Marie was still in the truck, scared out of her mind. Before he could make his way to her though a huge clawed hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and tossed him into a small rock face further down the road. When Peter looked up, he saw that it the first guy who attacked him and got pissed.

"What the fuck do you want from me!?" Peter shouted as his attacker leaped forward.

Peter dodged out of the way and came around ready to hit the guy with everything he had when a sharp shooting pain came out of his hands, literally. Three, one-foot long, bone claws shot forth from between his knuckles. "What the fuck!?"

Those were the last words he said before the large, hairy man struck Peter in the face with a small tree. In fact he was hit such force that the tree exploded into sawdust. Peter's unconscious body was sent flying back into the Yukon, back through the windshield taking half of the rooftop with him.

Marie ducked underneath the dash just in time to be saved from having Peter hit her on his way through the rest of the vehicle. She was beyond, scared, or frightened, or terrified. Simple words could never truly explain the level of fear she was experiencing at this very moment. Her body was trembling violently and she was just moments away from soiling herself, she was so afraid. Out of the nowhere, lightening struck the scary man and then a strange red beam of light, and it sent him howling into the woods beyond. The door opened and there stood a beautiful black woman, with white hair, wearing what looked like a black leather costume.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

But Marie was too scared to speak; she just stared at her and nodded.

"Good, come on we got to get you out of here before they come back." She said and grabbed Marie by her arms and pulled her out of the wrecked Yukon. Standing next to her was a man, dressed in a similar black leather costume, and wear a long, single- lensed, ruby red sun glasses. This other man climbed in and pulled Peter onto his shoulders. Then they all ran to a strange, but admittedly cool looking airplane a short distance away in a clearing. They took off vertically into the air and flew high into the sky as the truck exploded in a ball of fire. The gas tank must have been ruptured during the fight and the electrical system shorted out. The spark could have easily caught the gas on fire and caused the explosion.

"Don't worry you're safe now." Said the woman

"Wh-who are you?" Marie managed to stutter out, her fear only just now calming down to the point where she was able to talk.

The woman smiled warmly at her, "I'm called Storm, and we're the X-Men."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_**Mutants and Mansions**_

"_You're totally my Hero… Hero… Claire called me that once. It felt good to hear it. But I don't know if I could call myself that though. I mean what is a 'Hero' really? I honestly don't know… Is it someone you look up to? Is it someone you trust and admire? Growing up I always looked up to Nathan and thought of him as my Hero. I guess in some ways I still do, he is my older brother after all. He's always looked out for me, even when I couldn't look out for myself; he was always there, like in New York… If it wasn't for him, there'd be no New York and millions of people would be dead because of me… I don't think of myself as a 'Hero.' I'm just guy who still has a lot to learn, and a lot to make up for… Maybe then I can be more like Nathan…" _

– **Peter Petrelli**

**West Chester, New York, USA**

His head was throbbing, and all he could see was blackness behind closed eyes. The last thing he remembered was that large monster of a man swinging a tree at his face, and then nothing. He obviously wasn't dead; otherwise he wouldn't be feeling like crap at the moment, it would take a hell of a lot more than that to kill him. So then where was he? He was lying on his back, that much was certain, he heard footsteps from a few feet away and a steady, calm heart beat.

The footsteps were light and there was a scent of Jasmine in the air, the person in the room with him was a woman he realized. He felt her hands touch him. Her fingers glided over his chest and arms gently. He was beginning to enjoy the feeling, but suddenly he felt the sharp prick of a needle penetrating the skin of forearm and jumped. The needle snapped and the female doctor that was attending to him, or at least he could only presume she was a doctor because of the fact that she was wearing the white lab coat of a doctor, was thrown into the wall by his telekinetic power, the force of blow knocking her out.

"Sorry about that." He said as he looked down at her unconscious body. "But I can't let you take any of my blood, it could be dangerous."

The floor was freezing cold underneath his bare feet, running to open a closet on the other side of the room he caught of glimpse of a grey, hooded sweatshirt with an 'X' emblem on it, but unfortunately no shoes.

"_Damn."_ He thought to himself

Throwing on the sweatshirt he ran out of the lab into a well lit, but a bizarre and almost sterile looking series of hallways. The walls were flat like in traditional halls, but were they looked as if they were made of some metallic colored plastic. The lights were built into the merging angles of both of the sides of the walls, the ceiling and the floor, so that they were lit up from above and below, also the doors were not rectangular, but circular with a big 'X' in the middle of them. Like something out of a science fiction movie.

Pulling the broken needle out of his arm he started to run down what appeared to be the main hallway. Since he didn't know where he was, he merely chose a direction by random and went with it.

"_Where is he going?"_ he heard a strange voice unexpectedly come into his head.

Looking around, he didn't see anyone else in the hallway he was in, he was completely alone.

"Someone wants to play? Fine, let's play." He spoke quietly to himself and continued on his journey through the labyrinth.

Suddenly a sliding door to an elevator opened up alongside him, _"Over here."_ Spoke the strange voice again.

"Alright then, let's see where this goes." He said to himself and boldly stepped into the elevator. This thing was like something out of a Star Trek episode, the elevator was a pale white color and cylindrical in shape instead of a rectangular box, and then the doors closed on him.

He felt the elevator begin to move up for a few minutes and then felt it come to a stop, a few moments later the doors slid open again to reveal, not a hospital or research lab of any kind, but instead a house, a very large house from the looks of it, a mansion most likely. It was more like a very large and traditional private school the more he looked at his surroundings. The walls were polished oak, and the floors were dark marble. The ceiling was arched and the entire place had a feeling of a place of higher learning. The ceiling lights, the lamps on the evenly space end tables, and chairs screamed 'prep school.'

"Some sort of institute maybe?" he asked himself. He had plenty of private school education in his childhood and teenage years that he would recognize it anywhere, no matter where he was.

His enhanced hearing picked up the distant footsteps of kids off in the distance. Immediately he turned himself invisible and made his way further down the hall, wondering why he didn't do this from the beginning. Just as he thought, a whole group of teenagers came scurrying down the stairs at the end of the hallway in droves. Apparently it was the end of a class session as the entire building was suddenly filled with teens. Talking, shouting, running and being obnoxious like teens are supposed to be. Pressing himself against a wall and staying invisible, absolutely no one noticed he was there, which was exactly what he wanted. After a few minutes that halls were empty again and it was just him.

"_He's over here, follow him."_ Again sounded the voice in his mind.

"Alright enough is enough; I'm going to find where this is coming from." Peter said to himself. Making his way through what looked like the main forum of the mansion, his hearing once again picked up the same voice. Except this time it wasn't in his mind, the voice was speaking. He could hear it behind a door on the other end of the forum. "All right whoever you are, let's see how you like it when I come barging in and get in your face."

Throwing the doors open, he was stunned to see an old man sitting behind a desk with a small group of teenagers sitting in chairs around him.

"Good morning Peter." The old man said in a cheerful and calm voice. "So I want everyone's report on my desk tomorrow morning, that'll be all."

The kids rose from their chairs and slowly made their way past him and exited the room, or more appropriately the office; one of the students however went back to her seat and picked up a book she left behind.

"Bye professor." Said the girl

"Bye Kitty." Smiled the old man and Peter watched as she phased through the closed door behind him. "Physics." He said as he picked up a copy of the book the girl had grabbed. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, would you like some breakfast?"

Turning his attention back to the old man behind the desk he cautiously walked closer to him. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Westchester, New York," said Xavier as he moved his wheelchair from behind the desk around to the front. "You were attacked; my people rescued you and provided medical attention."

"I don't need medical attention." Said Peter

"Yes of course." Xavier smiled

"Where's Marie?" he asked

"Rogue? She's here, she's fine." He replied

"Really? Because you still haven't actually answered my question 'Professor.' Where am I?" Peter asked again a little more forcefully.

"No I haven't." said Xavier, impressed with Peter's skill of deduction. "Well as I said you're in Westchester, New York and this is my school; The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

"Gifted Youngsters huh? So what is it exactly that you do here?" asked Peter just as the door behind him opened. Walking the room were four people; one of them happened to be the female doctor who was poking at him in the lab earlier. The other three however he had never met before.

"Aw, Peter I would like you to meet some friends of mine." Xavier said with pride in his voice. "This lady is Ororo Munroe, also called Storm." He said, indicating to the extremely attractive black woman who was dressed in a tight leather pants, a white silk blouse with white hair.

"Hello." She smiled

"Hi." Peter responded kindly.

"This gentleman here is Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops." Pointing to the man with the ruby-red sunglasses

"Hey." Said Scott and extended his hand.

"Hey." said Peter and shook it in return.

"The other gentleman behind you is Warren Worthington III, also called Angel." Xavier said, pointing out the tall blonde man wearing a long trench coat behind him. "And I believe you've already met Doctor Jean Grey." He said as Jean slid by Peter and stood next to the Professor. "They saved your life. You're in my school for the gifted, for mutants."

"Mutants? What the hell is a mutant?" asked Peter to the astonished looks on the faces of everyone in the room.

"You're a mutant Peter, so are we; we are all mutants, anyone who has special powers or abilities that normal people don't." said Jean

"Mutants huh? So that's what we're called now?" Peter said, not entirely believing the story being told to him. Suddenly however, his eyes began to feel warm and felt a prickling sensation from behind them.

"Peter, are you okay?" asked Storm

"No I'm…" Peter opened his eyes only to see a blinding red light. Energy shot forth from his eyes and nearly struck the Professor and Jean as it destroyed the shelves and the window at the back of the office. They screamed in threw themselves to the ground as shattered fragments of glass and wood flew across the room.

"Close your eyes!" shouted Scott.

Closing them shut as tightly as he could, Peter threw his hands across them and kneeled on the ground. "What the hell did you guys do to me!?" Peter shouted

"We didn't do anything Peter, we swear." Said Jean

"Scott, go get one of your glasses, hurry." Said Xavier as Jean was helping him back into his wheel chair.

"Is everyone okay?" said Storm

"Yeah I think so." Angel said, getting back to his feet and dusting the debris from his clothes.

Breathing deeply and slowly, Peter fought for control over whatever this new power was. In and out, slow and steady, Peter took long, deep breathes and slowly the warm feeling in his eyes went away, as did the prickling sensation. Removing his hands, he gradually began to open his eyes.

"No wait!" said Storm, afraid of another energy blast. But nothing happened.

"How's that possible?" asked Angel.

"I can control my powers, most of the time anyway." Peter said as he stood to his feet again. "But what the hell was that?"

Just then Cyclops ran back into the room with a spare set of ruby sunglasses. "Huh? I guess you don't need these then right?"

"Scott has the ability to project intense beams of coherent energy from his eyes, but is not able to shut off that ability as you have just shown. That is why he has to wear those specially made glasses in order to contain that energy otherwise it could be very dangerous for the people around him." Said Xavier

"I have to admit, I'm jealous." Said Cyclops. "Here you might want these anyway, just in case."

"Thanks." Peter said and took the glasses offered to him.

"How did you do that? Use my power I mean." Asked Cyclops

"It appears that Peter is an empathic mimic, he has the ability to absorb the powers of other mutants around him." Said Xavier, "That would explain certain things."

"Like what?" said Peter

"Like for instance that you knew that I was speaking to your mind and that you didn't become afraid of it, like most people would be if they hadn't encountered telepathy before." Said Xavier

"Wait a minute Professor; are you saying he's telepathic too?" Asked Angel

"I believe he is, aren't you Peter." Xavier smiled

"_You can say that."_ Peter thought, the telepathic voice of his mind reaching out to everyone in Xavier's office with crystal clarity.

"Wow. Just how many powers do you have Peter?" Asked Storm

"Well you can certainly add telekinesis to that list of yours." Said Jean

"Yeah, sorry about that, I kind of got freaked out." Peter said shamefully, "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"I'll be okay." She smiled

"Just exactly what kind of a school is this of yours anyway Professor? What do you really do here?" asked Peter

Charles Xavier couldn't help but smile again as he led Peter out into the hallway on a tour of his pride and joy to explain to him the motivations behind the creation of his school and why he was brought here. The school was far larger than he could have imagined, in fact it was just as big as any university; with dorm rooms, libraries, class rooms, lab, kitchens, dining halls, so on and so forth. It was ridiculous at how huge the Xavier Institute really was.

"This is a school for mutants, where we can live together in an environment where we can feel safe. Anonymity is a mutant's first defense against the world's hostility, people are afraid of things that they don't know. To the public we are nothing more than a school for gifted youngsters. Cyclops, Storm, Jean and Angel were some of my first students. I protected them, and taught them how to controls their powers and in time teach them to do the same. The students are mostly runaways, frightened and alone; some of them with gifts so extreme that they've become a danger to themselves and those around them. Like your friend Rogue, who is incapable of physical human contact, probably for the rest of her life. Her ability is similar to yours Peter in that she can absorb the powers of other mutants, but to an extreme in that not only does she absorb their powers, but also their life if she is in contact with them for too long. Yet here she is with peers of her own age, learning, being accepted and not feared." said Xavier.

Peter looked through the glass window of a nearby classroom where he could Marie sitting in the back of the class, taking notes and reading an opened book. One of the boys in the class, sitting a couple of seats in front of her had his hands behind the back of his chair and ignited a small ball fire in his palms. Another boy, sitting next to Marie, held out his own hand and froze the ball of fire into a ball of ice which fell and shattered on the ground. The teacher, which happened to be a guy completely covered in blue fur, turned from his lesson to scold the young man. Peter couldn't help but laugh to himself and smiled when he saw that Marie was getting along with the kids in her class.

"What will happen to her?" he asked

"That's entirely up her, she could rejoin the world as an educated young woman, or to stay on and teach others and become, what the children have affectionately called, X-Men." Said Xavier

"That's good; I would hate to see her get lost out there in the real world, or worse. I've seen too much of that lately." Said Peter

"You have, haven't you?" asked Xavier

"Yeah, you could say that." Peter said, thinking about everything that's happened in the last half year. The time he'd spent trying to save the world, fighting Sylar, saving Claire and the city, and the months that followed, going from one place to another with no real home to go back to. Learning about himself and how to control his own powers without putting anyone else in danger.

"But you have to remember, the school is just a public face, the lower levels are an entirely different matter." Xavier said as he continued his tour of the institute, taking Peter into the sub-levels of the school. There was even an underground launch pad for a jet plane, if anyone could believe that.

"When I was a young boy I discovered that I had the power to read other people's minds, and as I grew older I soon realized that I could not only read minds, but to control them as well. I could make think or do whatever I wanted, when I was seventeen I met a young man named Eric Magnus Lehnsherr. He had the ability to manipulate and control electro-magnetic fields. He was a survivor of the holocaust in Nazi Germany during the Second World War and as a child he was separated from his parents and never saw them again, as he matured he became to believe that humanity would never accept us. He grew angry and vengeful, and later took on the persona called Magneto… He was the one who sent those mutants who attacked you."

"He did, but why? I don't even know the guy, what does he want from me?" Peter asked with concern.

"I don't know honestly. There are mutants out there with incredible powers Peter, and you're certainly one of them, and many of them do not share my respect for mankind. If no one is equipped to oppose them, then humanities days could be over. Magneto believes that a war is brewing between humans and mutants, and so do those that follow him." Said Xavier

"Is there anything else about him that I should know about?" asked Peter

"He believes that we are the next step in human evolution, evolving from homo-sapiens to, what he likes to call, homo-superior. And just like how homo-sapiens drove their nearest rivals, the Neanderthals, into extinction; so must homo-superior must do the same to humans if we are to survive." He said

"But you don't think this way do you?" Peter asked

"I believe that we as a species, both humans and mutants, have evolved to the point where we can rise above such things and can use reason with each other to live together side-by-side with one another in peace. The alternative could only lead to war which will wipe out half the world's population and end up with the total extinction of one of our two species. Such a thing is unthinkable." Xavier said sadly.

**Somewhere in New York, USA (Underground)**

Sabretooth, the Toad, and Quicksilver entered the compound; making their way to Magneto's lair. The place was built deep underground, far down enough to escape the satellite that may have the capabilities to pick up certain heat and energy signatures from underground sources. The hollowed out rock and interlaced metal infrastructure of the facility could not help but be admired. Along the way, they passed two other members of their Brotherhood. The White Queen was a tall, blonde, beautiful woman with great telepathic powers. Her birth name was Emma Frost, but she had given up that part of her life long ago. The other was Mystique, a shapeshifter with long crimson hair, blue skin and red eyes. Both of which ruthless in their own way, but were extremely efficient and had total loyalty to the Brotherhood.

"Weren't the three of you supposed to come back with someone?" Mystique taunted. Both she and Emma Frost chuckled as the three men snarled and glared back at the two women with venom in their eyes.

Upon entering their master's lair, the three of them stood in line just in front of Magneto's metal desk. Magneto himself was standing behind it with his back turned to them, waiting for them to explain their failure.

"Well?" Magneto's voiced bellowed in the metallic chamber.

His son, Pietro Maximoff, known as Quicksilver, spoke first. "Father, we must apologize to report that we have failed in our mission to capture the mutant."

"Why is that?" Magneto howled, turning to face them. His cape was flapping in the air, his helmet shining in the light, and his eyes burning with rage. "It was a simple assignment; the three of you should have easily taken the mutant."

"The mutant wasn't alone sire, the X-Men were there as well." Toad said, attempting to pass the blame on the X-Men's presence, rather than the fact that they showed up after they had already been defeated.

"I see, so Charles is protecting the mutant after all…" Magneto said, deep in thought now. It had been years since he and his old friend last saw each other, and it would seem that they would see each other again sooner than he expected. "I have made the first move in this game; that is all they know."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Sabretooth

"Do? You'll do nothing until I tell you to do, understood." Said Magneto

"Understood…" Sabretooth said through his teeth.

"Good." Magneto said, levitating above them and exited out of the lair. "How are our other projects coming along?"

"Our agents are infiltrating the Company as we speak quite nicely, and they are confiscating the information we need on their defenses and counter measures." Mystique smiled.

"Good, and what of the other mutants of interest?" he asked

"They are being held down in the lower levels of the facility as expected. One of the mutants they recovered four months ago is still currently in a coma; however he should come out of it sometime very soon." Said White Queen.

"Good, very good, it seems that the women of this 'Brotherhood' are the only competent members we have, at least something is going right." Magneto said as he glared at the three stooges coming from his lair. "Inform me if something changes."

"Of course." Mystique smiled.

**Hartsdale, New York, USA (The Primatech Paper Company – Level Five)**

His eyes were heavy and his mind was groggy. He felt as though he had just awakened from a deep, long sleep, which technically was true to a certain extent. That is if you call being in a coma the same as being asleep. The 'tick-tock' of gears could be heard in his head as looked around at his surroundings.

"Morning sleepy-head, want to go for a dip?"

He heard a female voice say, but his vision was still a little blurred and he had trouble focusing his eyes. As his vision cleared he saw that he was on a beach, clear blue skies and seagulls flocking in the distance. He was lying on a long, beach chair underneath a palm leave umbrella. The young woman next to him was a very attractive redhead, her hair in a bun, wearing a pink bikini and large 70's style sunglasses.

"Where am I?" Sylar asked, his voice was raspy and it hurt to talk.

"We're in Maui, nice huh? Feel those trade winds." She said

"Who are you?" he asked

"My name is Candice Wilmer, but my friends call me Lady Mastermind." Said Candice

"Lady Mastermind? What kind of a stupid name is that?" he mocked

"Oh I don't know, about as stupid as naming yourself after a watch maybe… Sylar." She mocked back. "Anyway ever since I pulled you off of Kirby Plaza, the police have been looking for my old self. I'm going for a new look, what do you think." She said as she pulled off her sunglasses and shook her hair loose around her shoulders.

"You dragged me off Kirby Plaza?" he asked

"After you got stabbed through the chest with a samurai sword, and eight surgeries later, here we are. Oh that reminds me, don't try to move or you'll rip your stitches." She smiled

"Stitches?" Sylar said as he looked down at his body and found that he was dressed in a pair of pants and a cheap, red, Hawaiian shirt. "What stitches? There's nothing there."

"I covered them up. It's kind of my thing; I create physical hallucinatory manifestations. In simple terms, I make illusions. It comes in handy like you wouldn't believe." She bragged

"So none of this is real?"

"Nope, sorry, I wish it were though, it would be pretty cool to be here for real." She said

"Then show me what's really going on here." Said Sylar

"Trust me; you really don't want to know."

Sylar reached out and grabbed her by the throat and squeezed. Even in his weaken state he was still strong for someone with no super strength. "Show me, now!" Sylar demanded, and as reality faded and shifted around him he came to see that he was in fact not lying on a beach in Hawaii. But he was in fact lying in a sterile, white room somewhere on a gurney, with medical machines hooked up to him and IV's in his arms. In the middle of his chest, just a few inches away from his heart was this huge, ugly looking surgical incision scar stitched together. The pain was almost unbearable as he tried to move, only to be overcome with it and rendered virtually paralyzed by it. The howls of his screams could be heard all throughout the lower levels of the Company.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_**Proposals and Surprises**_

"_What happens when we discover our destiny? Do we embrace it in our arms and accept it? Or do we turn to run away and curse it? We have all wished that we were special in some way that we stand out amongst the vast majority, that somehow we are unique and different from the mundane. Wishing that we were rich, famous, powerful, that we may even have some undiscovered skill, or even possess super powers like our favorite comic book hero. For most of us however it is just pure fantasy and nothing more… But what if it turns out that it wasn't a fantasy? What would we do?"_

**- Mohinder Suresh**

**Cairo, Egypt (Genetics Conference / three weeks later)**

"With the exception of identical twins, every person in the world has a unique human genome. Since the human DNA is 99.9 percent the same between any two people this uniqueness results from genetic variations in a relatively small fraction of the genome. Nearly two decades ago, geneticists interested in human evolution and population genetics discussed the possibility of studying human genetic variations, resulting in the Human Genome Project.

Scientists involved with this effort collected blood samples from volunteers in fifty-two different populations. They analyzed DNA samples for genetic variations without considering information that blood donors had provided about their ancestral backgrounds. Using the DNA variations as markers, researchers sorted the donors' genomic DNA into six clusters. After restoring information about ancestral backgrounds, they found that five of the six clusters corresponded with the geographic regions of Africa, Central and South Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Central and South Pacific islands, East Asia and the Americas. The sixth cluster was linked to the Kalash, an isolated group in northwest Pakistan." He said, making his way around the lecture hall, and studying the engrossed looks on the faces of his colleagues, most of them anyway, and continued with his lecture.

"A correlation between genetic variation and geographic location did not surprise scientists. Studies of human genetic variation have traced the human species to an ancestral population that migrated from East Africa throughout the rest of the world. The currently accepted model of human history is that all the ancestors of the current human population lived in Africa only a short while ago. Somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 generations. That is not a very long time on the evolutionary scale. That is not even the next step up on the ladder that will bring our species to the next stage of human evolution.

However, a smaller fraction of DNA sequence changes are due to variants that arose since the migrations out of Africa all those generations ago. After migrating to different parts of the world, new genetic mutations arose and the frequency of common genetic variations shifted among geographically dispersed populations. In many cases, the particular genetic makeup of a given population was preserved for hundreds of generations, because humans have tended to live and raise families right where they were born. Easy and inexpensive world travel such as airplanes, trains and ocean fairing ships is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history.

Now what if all of these travels and migrations of our human ancestors was to somehow spawn a new cluster of the human species? A sub-species if you will? Now as we all know there are only four types of single nucleotide polymorphisms that form the human DNA. Adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine, but ask yourselves these questions." He said as he continued to make his way around the room, making sure that he still had everyone's attention.

"What if there was a fifth nucleotide, or a sixth, or a seventh, or a hundredth? How would that effect and change human evolution? How different would they be from the rest of the population? How much different from us would they truly be? Would we even be able to actually call them, human? How much of a percentage of their DNA would resemble ours? After all the only difference in the genetic code from human beings and the chimpanzee is one percent. A one percent difference in the structure of their DNA and we have a completely different species of mammal all together.

It is widely believed that human beings only use ten percent of their brain's potential at any given time. What if theses extra nucleotides were to allow people to tap into that extra ninety percent of the brain that we currently do not use? How much of that dormant brainpower will excel our species into the next stage of evolution? Look at all we've achieved as a species so far while using only ten percent, vaccines to fight diseases, written languages, the ability to build machines weighing hundreds of tons and yet able to defy the pull gravity and fly through the air and even land on the moon. Can you imagine what even an extra one percent will do for us? Imagine the possibilities, telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, tissue regeneration… Will it be all of these things? Will it be more, or less? Even just one of these abilities will vastly and drastically alter the way we look at human evolution and genetics all together.

As positive as those things may be, we also have to look at history to see what has happened in the past whenever a new species has risen to power. For one species to survive, thrive and multiply, another species will have to fall back and die out in order to provide room for the more advanced species to live. Will that happen to us? Will we fall back and die out? Or will we fight back for our survival, and thus exterminating the next possible stage of human kind? Thank you all for coming."

Mohinder Suresh finished his lecture to the sounds of clapping hands, and the lights slowly came back on revealing that the lecture hall to be only about half full. He was packing some of his materials into his suitcase when he was approached by two beautiful women, one was a black woman with white hair and the other was an attractive redhead.

"Excuse me Professor Suresh." Spoke one of the women.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked

"My name is Jean Grey and this is my associate Ororo Munroe." Said Jean. "We were wondering if we could speak with you please."

"I have a flight in about four hours back to New York so…"

"Oh well then that's perfect. We have a private plane that can take you back to New York with us if you miss your flight so it should be no problem, but it won't take long so you shouldn't need to worry about missing your flight." Said Storm

"You're from New York?" he asked, his curiosity peaked.

"Yes, in fact we just came from there, we're only here for a your conference and then we'll be heading back." Said Jean

"What? Wait a minute you flew all the way from New York City in America to Cairo, Egypt just to hear me speak?" Mohinder was stunned. Flattered, but still stunned.

"That's right." Storm smiled

"Well since you came all this way just to hear me drabble on about the human genome and theories on evolution, how could I possibly say no." he smiled, "There a small restaurant across the street, I'll finish packing my things here and will meet the two of you over there."

"Great." Said Storm. "We'll meet you there."

Ten minutes later Mohinder entered the restaurant, he scanned the room and saw the two sitting in a booth by an open window. The view by the window was breath taking to say the least, the three great pyramids could be seen only a few miles away as well as the Sphinx. Jean and Storm were sitting on one side of the booth and Mohinder took the open seat across the table from them.

"Hello ladies," Mohinder said as he sat down. "Great view isn't it?"

"Yes it is." Storm said as a waiter walked up to the table to take their orders. They ordered a round of tea to drink for the moment so that they weren't taking up space in restaurant.

"You know I've seen the pyramids perhaps five or six times in my life, and each time I see them, it always get better." He smiled. "So shall we get started?"

"Of course." Said Jean as the waiter returned moments later with their tea. "First off I would like to say what an honor it is to meet you; your work in human genetics is brilliant."

"Well I don't know if I could call it brilliant, my father did most of the work before he died. I simply picked up where he left off." He said

"Still, your research into the human genome is genius." Said Storm

"Well, thank you." Mohinder smiled. "So how can I help you ladies, seeing as you came all this way just to see me?"

"Well Professor Suresh, my friend and I work at an institute for gifted children. Most of these children are runaways or orphans; some are from, for the most part, normal and descent families." Said Jean

"That's most commendable for you, but what does this have to with me?" Mohinder asked

"To be completely honest Professor, we were wondering if you would consider coming to our school and teach with us." Said Storm

"Teach? Surely you have teachers who are competent in their jobs already?" said Mohinder

"We do, we all are actually. Both Jean and I teach there, so do Professors Charles Xavier, Henry McCoy and a few others." Said Storm

"Henry McCoy!? I've read his work; he is very brilliant in the fields of human biology and chemistry. But he hasn't published an article in several years, I thought he had retired, and you say he is working at this school of yours?" he asked

"Yes he is." Jean smiled

"I have to admit, it would be a great opportunity to work with someone like Henry McCoy. He could be of great help in my own research as well." Mohinder was considering this prospect very much. But he had responsibilities back in New York, and he had to keep Molly safe from the Company and he wasn't completely sure about how to go about it. Other than keeping her in the apartment all the time, but that's no kind of life for her. "I have to ask however, even as compelling as this is, why me? I mean there must be dozens of people in America you could have gone to first. Why would you travel across the world just to ask me this?"

"Professor Suresh, one of the reasons we came to you is because of your background in genetics, we believe that having someone like you at our school can greatly help not only our students but the faculty as well." Storm was saying. "Having someone like you can give a great deal of credibility to us."

"I wouldn't really say that… I'm not exactly accepted by the majority of my colleagues at the moment, but you're not telling me the whole truth either. There's something else as well, you said 'one' of the reasons… What is it that you're not telling me?" Said Mohinder

"We've recently learned that you are the legal guardian of a little girl, Molly Walker." Said Jean

Mohinder instantly became agitated and nervous; his adrenaline was now pumping throughout his entire body. He started to scan the restaurant, looking at everyone and anyone who was already in and who later entered and a sheen of sweat slowly formed on his brow. Both Jean and Storm noticed this and were themselves becoming nervous, not for themselves but for Professor Suresh.

"Professor Suresh?" said Storm

"How do you know about Molly? Are you with the Company? How many of your people are here in Cairo? I won't let you take her back with you, do you hear me?" Mohinder spat out, his agitation getting worse.

"Company? People? Professor we don't know what you're talking about, we just…" Storm began to say but then abruptly stopped when the sound of a gun hammer being cocked back was heard. Only then did Storm and Jean notice that one of his hands were under the table, his eyes full of focus and malice, and also fear.

"I told you, I won't let you take her. What your people did to her was not only unconscionable, but unforgivable as well. Who the hell do you think you are doing that to a little girl? Have you no souls?" Mohinder said again with loathing

"Professor please…" Storm began to say, slowly raising her hands but was interrupted.

"Quiet, and lower your hands back on the table, both of you, I want your hands where I can see them." Mohinder said, sweat rolling down his temples. "Tell me how many of your agents are here in Cairo, I really doubt the Company would only send the two of you, unarmed I might add, to come all this way just to fool me into giving her up to the likes of you."

"Professor Suresh, we're telling you the truth. We don't work for any 'Company' as you put it." Said Jean

"Do you really expect me to believe that? There are only a handful of people on this entire planet who would know that Molly even exists, and the Company certainly counts." Said Mohinder

Storm began to try to talk some sense into Mohinder and convince that they were indeed telling him the truth, Jean began to scan his mind about what he was talking about, and why he was so fearful of this 'Company' he kept mentioning. As she did, she saw images flash in her mind, memories actually… Mohinder's memories…

A little girl in a laboratory room, dying of some sort of virus… Mohinder spending day and night trying to find a cure… Discovering that his blood held the antibodies needed to cure the virus that she was infected with… The realization that the people who held her captive was in fact the 'Company' and that they were the ones who gave the virus in the first place… Gun fire and people dying… A man in glasses pointing a gun at Molly's head with Mohinder fearing for her life and having his own gun pointed at the head of the first man… Discovering the entire truth behind it all…

"Oh my god…" Jean gasped.

"What is it?" said Storm

"He's telling the truth, there were people who were using her as some sort of experiment. I saw it in his mind." Said Jean

"Saw it? You're a telepath." Mohinder said, keeping his on her very carefully.

"Yes I am, but Professor…"

"So then you'd know that I was telling the truth if I tell you that I wouldn't hesitate in shooting you if you tried anything… Wouldn't you?" he said, and Jean slowly nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"But Professor Suresh please, let us explain to you that we are not from the Company. We really are from a school for special children; we just want you to consider working for us at the school as one of our teachers. Molly would be safe there from them." She said

"How?"

"The children at the school aren't just normal kids; they're mutants, like both Miss Munroe and me. We both have special abilities and we teach the children there how to control and use their powers. We protect them from people like the ones who work for this Company." Said Jean

"Really, and just why in the world would I believe you?" he asked

"Because it's the truth, we swear." Said Storm

"Prove it." He said

Storm the slowly reached to her side and pulled out a binder and slid it across the table to Mohinder. Inside was information about the school, its location, biographies about the staff and life on campus for the students and so on. Just about what you would expect to see in any catalog or pamphlet about any fancy, private school.

"Impressive looking, but it still doesn't convince me. This could've been printed anywhere." He said

"We can take you there." Jean offered, she was becoming frustrated with his persistent disbelief, but understood completely about why he wouldn't trust them. This Company, whoever they were, was evil. To think that there were people out there who would experiment on a little girl like that was unthinkable, so as much as she wanted to hurl the gun out of his hands with her telekinesis, she didn't want to give him any more reasons to distrust and suspect them of any ill intent. They had to gain his trust.

"Really?" he said

"Yes, we told you earlier that we had a private jet. We can take you there and show you our school. We want you to trust us; our school really is on the up-and-up Professor. We just want the best for our students, and for Molly. We would really like it if you would decide to join our staff, not only could you then see that we are in fact telling you the truth, but you could also keep an eye on Molly and know that she would be safe there and away from these people who hurt her." Storm pleaded

Mohinder had to think deep and hard about this, if they were telling the truth, this could be the perfect opportunity for both him and Molly. She could be safe from the Company and he could keep a watchful eye on her while at the same time continuing his studies. He was grateful that Matt was with her right now while he was in Cairo watching out for her; otherwise he would be in a complete panic right now. If they were telling him the truth then this could be the perfect place, but if they were lying to him, then he would do his best to expose them and do as must damage as he could. He wouldn't expect to come back for a long time, if at all if they were taking him into a trap. But he couldn't just let them walk out of his sight either, especially now that they were right here sitting at the same table he was. No matter how he looked at it, it was a big risk. He just had to decide which was bigger, and how he would go about it.

"All right fine." Mohinder said after a long and unnerving silence. "I'll let you take me to this school of yours, but if you try anything, if you're lying to me…"

"We promise you Professor Suresh, we're not." Said Storm

"Fine… Let's go." He said

**Westchester, New York, USA (The Mansion)**

Peter was standing outside in the garden, it was beautiful day and it felt good to feel the sun on his face.

"Peter!" A voice shouted.

Peter turned his head to see Marie making her way to him. She was dressed in a rather attractive outfit with a pair of arm-length gloves.

"Marie, hi." Peter smiled. "I thought you still had class."

"The Professor ended the class about ten minutes ago, I was looking for you but you weren't in your room." She said

"It's too nice of a day to spend it indoors." Peter said, giving her a quick hug, making sure not to touch any exposed parts of her skin.

Hugging him back, she wished that it could've lasted longer. She was beginning to grow feelings for him but knew that nothing would ever come from them, which was the worst part of it. Not only was he far too old for her, even if he did looked at her in that, they would never be able to touch each other anyway because her power would drain Peter of his, and kill him. Plus the entire situation itself would be illegal and she wouldn't want him to go to jail because of her, so she kept her feeling buried to herself.

"So have you made up your mind yet?" she asked

"About?"

"You know what I mean, about what the Professor asked you." She said and while playfully punching him in the arm.

"Oh that!" Peter said as the two of them casually walked around the garden. "Well, it's nice to have a real roof over my head, with a real bed and good food. I don't know being a teacher though, I mean I don't think I'd have the patience to teach little, unruly, demon seed, kids every day."

"Peter!" Marie Laughed and pinched him in the arm.

"Ow, hey cut that out." Peter smiled, he had to admit, he liked her. She was a nice girl and deserved to have a good life. But he felt sorry for though, the nature of her powers meant that she could never have a real relationship in her life… Ever… He just wished that there was something that he could do to help her, but as far as knew there was nothing he could do.

"So, what is your decision then?" she asked

"I'll stay, for now anyway. It'll be good to stay in one place for a while and practice controlling my powers. Especially since being here means that I have a whole new plethora of them to deal with, I wouldn't want to have an accident out there somewhere and accidentally hurt someone." He said

"Plethora, huh? That's a new one… It's good that you're staying." She said

"Why is that?" he asked

"Because I'd miss you if you didn't, I feel like I can talk to you about things and feel comfortable about it. I still don't really know anyone here yet, not really, you know. It's kind of hard making new friends in a new place." She said

"You seem to be doing a good job of it though, there seems to be a lot of kids here who like you." He said

"Really? I hope so."

"That Bobby guy seems to like you." Peter said and nudged her shoulder with his elbow.

"Bobby? What? No, no it's not like that. We're just friends, really, that's all." Peter couldn't help himself but laugh.

She was blushing extremely red and she knew it, "Anyway…" She said trying to avoid the subject of her and Bobby. "What class are you going to teach?"

"Honestly I don't know, I only made my decision to stay here this morning. Right now I think I'll stay on as a sub and concentrate on controlling my powers more." He said

"Did you tell the Professor?" she asked

"Yeah I did, he seemed pleased with it."

"Did he tell you anything else about those guys who came after us?" she asked

"Nothing more than what he didn't already say unfortunately. A guy named Magneto could be after me for some reason or another, but what that reason is he doesn't know." Peter said

"That sucks; it would really help to know what this guy wants from you." She said

"You're telling me, but I also figure that as long as I'm here, I'll be a little safer than out on the road somewhere by myself if this guy decides to send his thus after me again."

"Either way, I'm glad you're staying." She smiled at him.

"Me too." He smiled also.

Overhead the sounds of the jet could be heard, it was cloaked however so that it wouldn't attract attention from everyone else, but it could still be heard just as any other jet would be.

"Sounds like Storm and Jean are back." Said Peter

"Where did they go?" Marie asked

"I think they said they were going to Egypt for some science conference. They were supposed to talk to guy there and then come back." He said

"You mean they went all the way to Egypt just to talk to a guy and then come straight back?" said Marie

"That was the plan apparently."

"They didn't go see the pyramids, or the Sphinx or any of the ancient tombs or anything?" she said

"I don't know, let's go ask." Said Peter

"Okay." Marie beamed, she loved spending time with Peter and they both went off to the Mansion to meet Jean and Storm.

Underneath the mansion in the launch pad room, Storm gently landed the jet lightly as a feather. Jean was sitting in the co-pilot seat and Mohinder was sitting in the back. It was an amazing piece of aeronautical technology he had to admit, a trip which would normally take roughly fourteen hours or so in a regular 747 airliner, took a mere four hours in this one. As intrigued as he was with it, he still had to remember that these people could very well be working for the Company and that all of this could be a trap.

"Okay Professor, here we are, The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Said Jean

"All right ladies, let's disembark and you can show me around." Said Mohinder

"Professor Suresh could you please put that gun away now, you're making me nervous. We're at the school now and there are children here." Storm said, pointing out the fact that he still held on to the gun during the entire trip back to the mansion.

"Sorry, but I still don't really trust either of you, and if you're telling the truth and there are children here, then I will put it away. But until then, I'd rather not." Mohinder said and motioned for them to open the door.

They did as he said and exited the plane; the launch room was huge and sterile and felt a little cold. As they left the launch room, they entered a series of hallways and began to walk to what appeared to be an elevator.

"This will take us up to the main level of the mansion, when we get I must insist that you put that gun away Professor Suresh." Said Jean

Before Mohinder could respond the elevator door suddenly opened to reveal two people standing in it. One was a rather attractive young girl with red hair, while the other one was a person who he recognized immediately. The respective looks on both of their faces revealed as much, only to be confirmed when they spoke.

"Peter Petrelli?" said Mohinder.

The three women looked back and forth from both Peter, to Mohinder and then back to Peter again, wondering just how these two could possibly know each other.

"Mohinder?" Said Peter. "What are you doing here?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_**Having a Bad Day…**_

"_Normal..? What does it mean it be normal? Everyone has their own special view of what normal is, and what normal is not. Normal is going to school Monday through Friday, hanging out with your friends, going to parties and going out on dates. Normal is not having your body heal itself after falling from sixty feet from a building, or from running through fire in a matter of seconds, or coming back to life from having a six inch piece of wood pulled from the back of your head. That is not normal… But for me, unfortunately, it is… I just want to be like everyone else."_

– **Claire Bennett**

**Eastern British Columbia, Canada**

The snow was coming down in sheets and didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon. She hated being cold and miserable like this, but it was something that she had to do. Better for her to be cold and lonely instead of putting her entire family in danger because of what she was. The events in New York and everything else that led up to that point convinced her of that. Her family was almost killed, and her father even took a bullet for her and had his memory wiped just to protect her. Then there was Peter…

Tears started coming to Claire's eyes as the thought of never having a normal life came to mind. The thought of never being able to be just a normal teenager, never going out to parties, hanging out at the mall or even just having friends. She had all these things once, but then she started displaying these powers to heal and regenerate and everything changed. She became a freak, nearly murdered by a serial killer named Sylar, and was saved by a complete stranger named Peter.

She thought about Peter constantly, he was the only person she could ever truly trust in this world. Peter died three times, the first time when he saved her from Sylar at school, the second when he fought Sylar at Mohinder's apartment, and the last time when detonated over New York in a giant nuclear explosion. Peter sacrificed himself in order to save the entire city. Sometimes she wondered what would've happened if he didn't die that night. Would he have helped them find a new home and a place to hide? Would he have come with them to protect them? Would he have run away because the thought of hurting them accidentally was too horrifying to him? Would she even be where she is right now if he was still alive? As little as she knew of him, she knew one thing…

Peter was a brave and kind hearted soul who would give up his own life for a complete stranger just because it was the right thing to do, and she loved him for it…

She still does…

She ran away from her family not long after Peter died, watching him and Nathan give their lives was too much for her. After her dad drove them to the hotel where they were staying she waited until they were all asleep before she left. She was very careful to be quiet so she wouldn't wake anyone up when she left the room and out into the cold, cruel world on her own. It would've been hours before they would wake up in the morning, and by that time she would already be across the border in Canada, and from Montreal she made her way west. Now she was in some backwater town in Eastern British Columbia, she had almost no more money, and no way to get anywhere.

"This sucks, now what am I going to do?" she asked herself. "I hate my life."

She spotted a local bar and grill, and decided to go in. The smelled of booze but at least it was warm. She sat down at the first open booth she could find and began to ponder on what her next step would be. As she was thinking a waitress walked up to her and asked her what she would like.

"Um, I'm sorry but how much would five dollars buy me?" Claire asked

"Not much I'm afraid, maybe a glass of juice and a small plate of fries, but that's about it." The waitress said in response.

"I'll have that then." Said Claire. No need in saving it since it was all she had left, might as well get something to put in her stomach, even if it was just some juice and some fries… It was better than nothing.

The waitress returned shortly after with a glass of apple juice and a small plate of French fries, plus another small plate of cheese sticks as well.

"I didn't order this one." Claire said

"I know, don't worry about it; it's on me." She smiled.

"Thanks…" Claire said, trying to smile.

She sipped her juice and slowly nibbled on her fries and cheese sticks. It wasn't much at all, but it was all she could afford. Glancing around the place she noticed that the place wasn't very full. There were a few people at the bar, a couple of guys in flannel shirts and wearing trucker hats; another guy was wearing an old leather jacket, he had his hair gelled up in a weird style and was smoking a cigar. A few more people were over at a pool table on the other side of the establishment; they seemed a little drunk to her. Whooping and hollering a little too loudly in her opinion. There was also another guy sitting by himself in another booth across the room from her, seemingly minding his own business reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee.

Going back to her 'meal' in front of her she couldn't help but feel defeated and alone and she had absolutely no idea about what she was going to do next. After several minutes of trying to think things through, without feeling depressed about it, a shadow suddenly came over her table and the smell of alcohol flooded her nose.

"Hey Blondie, what's a sweet little thing like you doing here all alone?" said a voice from over her shoulder.

Claire looked up to see that the two drunk guys that were playing pool a few minutes ago were now surrounding her table, and a feeling of dread suddenly came over her.

"Uh, I'm just waiting for someone." Said Claire

"Yeah right." The first drunk guy; fat and dressed in flannel shirt, said. "Come on girly, why don't you come with us and we can show you a real good time."

"No thanks, I'd rather stay here." Claire said, anxious for them to leave her alone.

"Aw come on." Said the second drunk guy, a little thinner and wearing an old denim jacket, grabbed her arm, pulling her from the booth.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Claire screamed

"We won't hurt you." Said the fat drunk.

"She said let her go!" Shouted a voice from behind the two drunk men. Looking over their shoulders, they spotted a man standing at the bar, wearing an old leather jacket and smoking a cigar.

"Stay out of this buddy, this ain't none of your business." Said the drunk man in the denim jacket.

"Help me please!" Claire pleaded

"The girl said let her go, so I'd do what she says, otherwise some people might get hurt." Logan said as he puffed on is cigar.

"Really?" Said the fat man, "Well then I guess we'll just have to see about that."

"Please, just let me go!" Clare struggled, but she couldn't break free of her aggressor's grip.

"Shut up girl!" he said

The fat man rushed at Logan only to be met with a solid fist to his face. A loud crunching sound was heard when Logan's fist connected with the fat man's nose, breaking it and causing a massive amount of blood to spill out. Falling backwards to the ground, the other man threw Claire away from him as his comrade hit the floor with a loud thud and went after Logan himself. Grabbing a wooden chair he swung at Logan with everything he had and missed. Logan ducked underneath and punched the guy in the stomach causing his attacker to double over in pain. Taking the advantage, he grabbed the guy by the back of his head and slammed it on the bar counter as he could without killing him. Just then the fat man reached behind his back and pulled out a small revolver.

"No!" Claire screamed and ran between Logan and the attacker.

Before Logan had time to react a loud 'bang' echoed throughout the bar and the smell of cordite filled the air. The waitress and the other patrons of the establishment screamed in horror as Claire's body went limp and fell to the floor.

"Oh my god, no." Logan said as he picked her up from the dirty ground.

The bullet struck her just above her left breast into her heart. Blood was soaking into her clothes, her lungs had stopped breathing and her eyes were closed.

Logan looked up at the murderer with rage in his eyes, "She's dead! You killed her you fucking bastard!"

The fat man's body was trembling with fear and sorrow; he couldn't believe what he just did. "I… I didn't mean… I mean she just…"

Logan couldn't believe that this man just shot and killed an innocent young girl right in front of his eyes; this man did not deserve to live and must pay for his crime. Before he could restrain himself his claws were sheathed and he launched himself at the murderer, sinking his twelve-inch adamantium claws into the chest of this man. Blood began pouring from the wounds and blood soaked his clothes, the look of shock and terror came over his face and his body felt cold, as he realized the awful truth, he was going to die… Just like the girl he shot.

The customers and employees of the bar stared on in absolute terror, a girl was shot in the chest by a drunken man, and that man in turn was murdered by a… Mutant…

"Mutant! That guy's a mutant!" someone shouted

"He just murdered that man!" screamed a woman

"Hey in case you didn't notice, this man just shot and killed that girl!" Logan shouted back in anger and disgust, how could they be blaming him for everything that's happened just now when it clearly wasn't his fault. Suddenly there was a collective gasp from the crowd as the girl, the dead rose from her back and sat up.

"Oh my god! She's alive!" screamed the waitress.

Logan looked back to see Claire sitting up, not only that but the bullet that was embedded in her chest was now coming out on its own and dropping on the floor. As it did so the bullet hole in Claire's chest closed and healed before his eyes, leaving behind only the blood stained shirt. She was just like him, able to regenerate from her wounds.

"Hey kid, are you alright?" Logan asked and sheathed his claws back into his hands.

"Yeah I think so…" said Claire.

"They're both mutants!" shouted the waitress.

"I suggest that the two of you get out of here nice and quiet, without any more trouble before I call the police." The bartender said as he pulled a pump action shotgun from underneath the counter.

"_Great not again."_ Logan thought to himself.

"You can't let them go, they're mutants and they just killed that man!" the waitress screamed in protest.

"What? But we… I…" Claire began to stutter.

"Shut it Doris! The mutant is right, those two bums assaulted them first and that fat bastard on the ground shot that girl. Now if she wasn't a mutant she would be dead right now so give it a rest. But just because they defended themselves doesn't mean I have to let them stay in my bar. Now like I said you two, get out of here with no more trouble, get me!" shouted the bartender.

"Yeah, we get you bub." Logan said as he made his way to the door.

"You too girl, get going." The bartender stated to Claire.

Claire stood shakily, on the verge of tears and anger filling her heart; she went over to her booth, grabbed her coat and began to follow Logan out the door.

"Hey girl!" shouted the bartender as she began to exit. "You got ten minutes, and then I'm calling the cops."

"Yeah, thanks for nothing." She said.

Claire glared at him with rage, how could these people possibly think that she was to blame for this? She was the one who was shot in the chest a few minutes ago, who do these people think they are? That was probably the reason, they're people… Just average, everyday, normal people… And she was a freak…

Outside in the blazing cold she looked frantically for the guy who tried to help her inside the bar and saw him entering his beaten down old truck. Running as fast as she could, she caught up to him as he turned the engine.

"Hey wait a minute, mister!?" Claire knocked on the frozen driver side window.

Logan sighed and rolled down the window so he could speak to the girl, "What is it kid?"

"I know I'm asking a lot from you by saying this, but… Can I get a ride from you please?" she asked shivering in the cold.

"Look kid, I'm sorry about what happened in there and all but I can't…" Logan began to say but was suddenly interrupted by Claire.

"Please, I don't have anywhere else to go, I don't have any money and that bartender said he'll call the cops in like ten minutes. I can't be out here when they get here… Please?" she pleaded.

Logan looked into her eyes, which was a mistake seeing as she was on the verge of tears, realizing that she was desperate he finally gave in against his better judgment and relented. "Okay kid, hop in and take you as far as I can."

"Thank you so much." Claire said and immediately jumped in the passenger side.

Logan and Claire began to drive off into the unforgiving, Canadian, winter storm together uncertain of what the future would bring. The road was a long two-lane straight-away and they were the only ones traveling on it.

"My name's Claire." She said

"Logan." He said in response, while puffing away on a cigar.

"I want to thank you for what you did for me back there in the bar and for letting me hitch a ride with you. Really, you have no idea how much I appreciate it." Said Claire.

"Don't mention it kid. I couldn't let those assholes rough you up like that the way they were, it wouldn't be polite, besides those guys had it coming." Said Logan. "Especially the fat one, he actually took out a gun and shot you with it. He may have been aiming for me but that's no excuse, even if he was drunk it's still no excuse to try to murder someone like that."

"Is he dead? I mean… Did you kill him?" she asked.

After a moment of silence Logan finally answered, "Yeah I did… That bastard didn't deserve to live."

"Oh…" Claire said and looked at his hands on the steering wheel. "Do they hurt, when they come out?"

"Every time…" Said Logan

"Do you get used to it? The pain I mean…" she asked

"Not really… Hey kid, I've got to ask, why are you out here all by yourself? I mean, you have to have family somewhere don't you? They must be worried about you or something right?" asked Logan.

"Maybe… But they're better off without me…" Claire said as she stared out the frost covered window.

"Why?" he asked

"Because of what I am…" said Claire.

He wasn't going to press anymore on the subject, by the sound of her response it was obvious that she'd been through some hard times.

"Okay… Where are you from then? By the sound of your accent I think it's safe to say that you're not exactly from around here." Said Logan

"I'm from Texas." Said Claire

"An American huh? Well that explains…" Suddenly a gust of wind shook the ratty old truck back and forth on the road and the sounds of helicopters over head roared in their ears. "Damn! It looks like that damn bartender wasn't kidding!" Said Logan.

The flood lights from the choppers pierced through the night, lighting up Logan's beat up old truck like a Christmas tree. One of the choppers landed about a hundred yards ahead, forcing Logan to hit the brakes hard and stop. The truck skidded along the frost covered road and stopped nearly thirty feet away. Men, dressed in paramilitary style uniforms, jumped out of the chopper brandishing machine guns with laser sights, their aim were pointed directly at the two passengers inside Logan's truck. While the men on the ground kept their aim on Claire and Logan, more men in paramilitary style uniforms repelled from ropes from the other helicopters still in the sky, surrounding the vehicle.

"Stay down kid, I don't think these guys are playing around." Said Logan

Claire obediently ducked down as low as she could, even though she knew that I would do her no good. She as scared and she didn't know what to do. Logan on the other hand, slowly moved his hands off the steering wheel and sheathed his adamantium claws just as one of the military men approached his door. He could hear the 'click' of the man switching the safety off and setting it to auto.

"Whatever you do kid, try to stay out of the way and maybe they'll forget about you." Said Logan.

"What?" Claire said.

"This is going to get messy." Logan responded as the man swung the door open and attempted to fire, only to have his weapon cut in half by Logan's claws.

Roaring in rage Logan leapt out of his truck and stabbed the man right through his protective, Kevlar vest. Throwing the body into another paramilitary man, Logan ducked and rolled forward underneath the incoming rounds of machine gun fire and stabbed two of the men firing at him in their stomachs. More of the men fired at Logan as he momentarily used one of the dead men as a body shield and threw it into the squad shooting at him, knocking them over onto their backs. Bullets impacted into his back as the burning sensations flooded his body, however, instead of going down as they most undoubtedly thought he would, Logan turned and faced them running at full speed with claws at the ready and sliced them down in single swoop.

Claire meanwhile was in a state of complete fear, the sounds of gun fire, the splatter of blood in the driver seat, and the knowledge that she may not be able to get of this, paralyzed her to the core. Suddenly a blast of wind hit her as the passenger side door swung open; one of the men grabbed her by the collar and yanked her from the truck onto the snow covered ground. Reacting out of pure instinct and fear, she kicked at the closest thing to her, which just happened to be the balls of the man who grabbed her. Doubling over in pain, she kicked him again, this time in the face and he went flying backwards and smashed into the passenger side turn signal light.

Someone from behind cracked Claire over the head with the butt of their rifle, she fell to the ground hard and blood began to pour from her wound before it began to heal itself. Just as the man turned his rifle to shoot her, Logan came flying through the open cab of the truck like a cannon ball and ran all six claws through the guy's chest. Instantly getting to his feet he turned to check on Claire.

"Are you alright!?" he said

"Yeah." Said Claire

More men came running around the, already shot to hell, truck and were ready fire when a voice came over the loud speaker from one of the helicopters above.

"Cease fire!" said the voice. Instantly the men on the ground obeyed the commands and stopped firing.

"Come on you assholes if you want to shoot me then shoot me!" Logan taunted.

"Don't shoot him, keep your weapons at the ready and back away." The voice ordered, and the men, once again, obeyed.

"Who are you!?" shouted Logan.

The helicopter landed not far from the scene of the carnage and a man stepped off, making his way towards both Logan and Claire.

Putting himself between Claire and the man coming towards them, Logan shouted again. "I said who are you!?"

"My, my, my… I must admit I never expected to see you again Wolverine, or should I call you Logan? You were always particular to that name." said the man.

Logan and Claire both looked at him dumbfounded, Logan more so.

"Do you know him?" asked Claire.

As the man got closer into the light, Logan could see him more clearly. He was a stout man, older and wore glasses. The one thing that he knew without a doubt was that he had no memory of ever meeting this man before in his life.

"No I don't…" he said to Claire. "How do you know me!?"

"I'm hurt, don't you remember me? How long has it been? Fifteen years… You haven't changed one bit, me on the other hand… Well, let's just say 'nature' and leave it at that." The man smiled.

Logan took another look at the man smiling at him, and small bits of memory long forgotten flashed through his mind. A water tank… Being strapped to a lift of some sort… Pain… People in medical uniforms standing above him… Blood everywhere…

"You didn't answer my question, who are you?" said Logan

"Well… If you really have to know." The man smiled again. "I'm the one who made you."

"Made me? What do you mean, made me?" said Logan.

"How else do you think I mean Wolverine? You don't actually think that you were born with that metal in your body do you? I mean adamantium is so hard to come by these days." He laughed

"Why do you keep calling him Wolverine?" said Claire as she stepped out from behind Logan.

"Why? My dear young lady, it's his call sign of course. After all he's wearing the dog tag around his neck right now." He said

Logan tugged at the chain from underneath his shirt and pulled it out. How did this man know what was etched into the dog tag? No one knew except himself. As he looked at it, another fragment of memory flickered in his mind. A feeling of being drowned under water and cut open… Then nothing…

"Is he right?" asked Claire as she watched Logan gaze at the tag around his neck.

"Who are you?" Logan asked again, his claws retracting into his hands finally.

"Call me Stryker dear boy. I must say, it's good to see you again after all these years." Stryker smiled.

Suddenly Claire several sharp pin pricks in the back of her neck and the world went black. Logan spun around to see Claire lying in the snow with a couple of darts sticking out of neck. Growling, he turned to attack but was greeted by the impact of half a dozen or so of the same darts that took down Claire. Falling to the ground, the world around him was going dark and the last thing he heard was that of laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_**The Weapon X Projects**_

"_Mutants are the bane of the human race, an abomination in the eyes of god, a mistake in evolution and a plague that deserves to be wiped from the face of the Earth. To put it mildly, the very fact that mutants even exist at all presents a very difficult problem not only to our way of life, but to our very survival. It is a war out there, between Humans and Mutants, and it is a war that I intend to win… By any means necessary…" _

– **Col. William Stryker**

**Alkali Lake Military Compound, Canadian Rockies**

Claire woke to find herself in strange surroundings. Her head was spinning and her vision was foggy. The last thing she remembered was standing next to Logan out in the cold when the man called Stryker started talking to him, and then there was an instant of sharp pain at the back of her neck, and then blackness. The air was cold, but not cold from the weather outside would be. It felt forced and smelled sterilized, like the air conditioning in a hospital or medical clinic. She realized that she was lying down on a cot of some sort, not a real bed. In fact, what was she doing lying down in the first place?

She sat up slowly to see that she was in a room. The walls were painted white and there was a single, gigantic sized window ahead of her. Looking around, the only things in the room, besides herself, were a single table with a chair and a stainless steel toilet. She also noticed that she wasn't wearing her clothes; she was wearing one of those gowns they give you in hospitals that you have to tie up in the back. In fact, that was the only thing she was wearing. Someone stripped naked of everything she had on and put this damn hospital gown on her instead.

The door opened and a woman in a lab coat entered the room rolling a metal cart with her, "Good morning." She said

"Who are you? What am I doing here?" said Claire

"Well, to answer your first question, I am the nurse assigned to take care of you for now, and as far as your second question goes I'm afraid I'm not authorized to answer that one." She smiled

"Who are you people? Why have you taken me here?" asked Claire

"I'm afraid I'm not authorized to answer those either. But I have brought you some breakfast and your clothes as well. They've been washed and everything so no worries." The nurse smiled again.

"Please… Why am I here?" Claire could feel her eyes begin to tear.

"I'm sorry, but I really can't answer that. They'll tell you when you're ready." The nurse said and walked out, locking the door behind her.

"Wait!" yelled Claire as she ran to the door and tried to open it. "Why am I here!? Who are you people!? Let me out of here!"

Claire continued to bang on the door and scream for her captures to set her free for nearly half an hour, but no one came. Losing hope that she would be let go anytime soon, she finally gave up and began to dress herself in her own clothes. She slipped on her panties first and then her jeans. Sitting on the edge of her cot, she put on her socks and shoes next. The bare tile floor was freezing and her toes were going numb. Then she untied the hospital gown and began to put on her bra and sweater. Claire felt completely exposed due to the fact that there were no curtains of any kind in front of that large window in her cell. At least that's what she came to think of it. It was like some sort of weird jail cell out of a movie or something. But in the end she didn't really care what it was, she just wanted to be set free.

Her breakfast tray was now cold, but she didn't care about that either. Claire had no appetite to speak of; she was just angry and scared. She didn't know where she was, who these people were or why they kidnapped her and stuck her in this place to begin with. And why did they undress her the way they did and put a hospital gown on her. What were they doing to her? She had all of these questions and more running through her head, but no answers… She was alone…

Logan, on the other hand, began to wake to much more than just a simple headache and wearing a hospital gown. Truth be told, he wasn't wearing a hospital gown at all, he was completely naked and chained down to a steel rack of some kind. The room around him was dark and he couldn't see very well, but he could hear the hushed voices of the other people in the room and he could smell the abundance of chemicals and solvents that filled the air. He tried to break free from the chains that held him down but they wouldn't budge. They were wrapped around his neck, chest, arms, stomach and legs. His hands felt very heavy, like there were weights on them, but then he realized that they weren't actually weighed down, but in fact they were encased. Glancing down at then the best he could, they seemed to be enclosed in some sort of metal gauntlets. He tried to bear his claws but when he did, only the sound of metal banging against metal was heard and an incredible pain shot forth through his hands and arms, and he cried out in pain.

"Well, well, well, Wolverine. You're finally awake I see, and just in time too. I wouldn't want you to miss your own welcome back party. Why, we're picking up right where we left off. How wonderful is that?" Said a voice from the darkness.

"Stryker! You son of a bitch is that you!? What are you doing to me!?" Logan demanded.

"Why don't you remember, this is where you were born. Well not physically born obviously, but metaphorically. This is where you became The Wolverine. Don't you remember?" Stryker smiled wickedly.

"You didn't answer my question asshole! What are you doing to me!? How did I get here!?" Logan shouted

"Well if you must know, we're going to re-collect the data we lost on you the first time we proceeded with the procedure. What with you going berserk and destroying all of our computers and equipment, not to mention the majority of the scientists involved, it has been pain staking to say the least in catching up on what we have lost. Of course our methods have vastly improved since your day Wolverine, but we still the data none the less. And as to the part about you getting here, well… Let's just say we had to use an ample amount of tranquilizers on you. The girl just needed a few, but you dear boy needed much more." Said Stryker

"Claire! What did you do with her!?" he screamed.

"Don't worry about it Wolverine, she's being taken care of quite nicely." Stryker smiled.

"Stop calling me that!"

"Fine then, Logan, like I said, we're going to be collecting the data we need from you and then once we're finished we'll be proceeding with the second phase of this little operation of ours." Stryker smiled again

"You son of a bitch! Let me go!" Logan once again tried to unsheathe his claws, but only ended up having the same results as the last time, with the sound of metal clanging on metal and a piercing pain shooting up through his hands and arms.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Logan dear boy! You should know better than that. These chains and manacles that bind you to this rack and the gauntlets on your hands aren't made of steel or anything that weak and brittle. They're made of adamantium, just like the alloy that's graphed on to your skeleton and claws. Completely indestructible, in fact, there's nothing on this earth that can even scratch adamantium except for itself, with the right amount of force and power behind it. But just to be safe, the gauntlets on your hands are one inch thick, not even your claws can penetrate those." Stryker laughed as a small group of nurses entered the chamber and began attaching electrodes to his body.

"What the hell are these things!? Get them off of me!" shouted Logan

"Sorry my boy, but this is my Queue to leave now and I besides I do have work to do. Once everything is connected lower him into the vat and begin collecting the data." Stryker ordered one of the technicians behind the thick glass shielding, which peered directing into the testing chamber.

"Yes sir." said the voice of the technician on a loud speaker.

"All right people clear the area and set the count down." Stryker announced.

"Stryker let me out of this thing you little shit!" shouted Logan

"Clam down dear boy, it's not like you haven't been through all of this before. So just relax and enjoy yourself; I know I will." Stryker laughed as he exited the room.

Motors began to hum and the rack started to lower, he could smell the chemicals below him get stronger as he got closer. The temperature in the room also began to rise and sweat formed on his brow, the sounds of bubbling could be heard from beneath and he realized that the vat of chemicals was starting to boil.

"Stryker I swear to God I'll kill you for this!" Logan cursed as his body was immersed in the boiling solvents and chemicals.

He could feel his skin peel away and dissolve in the boiling solvents as his body regenerated and grew new skin to replace it instantly. The pain was unbearable, and his lungs filled with fluid. He could feel himself drowning, but he didn't drown, his abilities kept him alive no matter how much torment and suffering he went through. All the while Stryker kept a close watch on the monitors in the observation booth just above the testing chamber, beaming at the results he was witnessing.

"Look at these numbers, they're amazing." one of the technicians said in awe.

"Yes they are. In fact there was a time when I thought the same thing. I thought that he was unique, one of a kind, but I later found out that he wasn't. They're countless of them out there, some with the same abilities he has and others with even more unbelievable powers. Still these numbers are quite impressive." Sais Stryker

"What will we do with him afterwards sir?"

"We'll do nothing; he's the prototype, nothing more. Once we have all the data we need, we'll run them though our calculations and proceed with the second phase of the project." Said Stryker

"Who will we use sir?"

"Who do you think? That pretty little blond girl we brought in with him, our preliminaries showed that she has the same regenerative powers as Wolverine down there, and with our advancements in this field over the last fifteen years, I have a good feeling that everything will go to plan this time." Stryker smiled.

Claire was sitting in the corner of her cell, her knees hiked up to her chest and her head hung low. The room was still cold, despite that was now wearing her own clothes, and she rubbed her arms vigorously trying to stay warm. Through the glass window she saw people dressed in lab coats make their way to the cell across the corridor from hers. They were rolling a gurney with the body of an unconscious man strapped down to it, into the cell. She got and ran to the window to get a closer look and saw that it was Logan who they were carrying. He was tied down to the gurney by leather straps and had on these weird looking metal gloves on his hands. He was dressed in a hospital gown like Claire was earlier and was also completely out of it.

"Hey what did you bastards do to him!?" Claire shouted and banged on the window.

They simply ignored her as they lifted off the gurney, put Logan on the cot along with a stack of clothes and left the room, locking it behind them.

"Logan! Logan! Wake up! Logan can you hear me!? You have to wake up!" Claire shouted over and over again, banging on the glass in an attempt to make as much noise as possible to wake Logan from his sleep.

"It won't go you any good dear, he's going to be out for quite a while." Chuckled a familiar voice from behind.

Claire swirled around to see the smiling face of Stryker staring back at her, he had open the door to her cell and entered without her even knowing. She quickly glanced over to the door to see if he was stupid enough to leave it open, hopefully giving her a chance to escape. But to her disappointment, he wasn't that stupid.

"I have to say you can make quite a ruckus when you want to, but it's not going help." Said Stryker

"What did you do him?" she asked

"Nothing he hasn't been through before, don't worry about it, he'll be fine." Said Stryker

"What do you want from us? Why are we here? What kind of a sick bastard are you!?" Claire screamed furiously and launched herself at Stryker.

Stryker of course thought that this was all amusing, he laughed as he blocked and dodged Claire's attempts to hit him. He threw her from one side of the room to the other like a rag doll, Claire's rage and futile endeavors to harm Stryker were nothing compared with his many years of military training and experience. He may have been old, but he was still dangerous.

"Come now child, you can't possibly hope to hurt me, you simply don't have the skills." He laughed

"You'll get tired of dodging me sooner or later." Said Claire

"Well when that happens then I'll have to simply put you down." He smiled

"Yeah right, you wish, you can't hurt me." Claire said, feeling a little more confident over his statement.

"Hurt you? Who said anything about hurting you? That's the furthest thing from my mind; I don't want to hurt you Claire. I want to use you." Stryker said with an evil grin.

A cold chill ran down her spine suddenly, "How did you know my name? What are you going to do with me?"

"Oh Claire, I know everything about you. You, your mother Sandra, your brother Lyle, your father Noah and the company he works for and so on. We know that you were adopted by the Bennett family and lived all of your life in Odessa, Texas and that you ran away from your family about four months ago because you thought that you could protect them by doing that, but that's nothing for you to worry your pretty little head over. Just sit back and relax and we'll come for you when we're ready." Stryker smirked.

"Please, just tell me… What are you going to do with me?" Claire was frightened out of her mind. This man knew everything about her and she was afraid about what else he knew.

"Well if you must know, we are going to enroll you, so to speak, into a little project we have here at this facility. Logan over there was actually the start of everything, but things kind of went sour and well, let's just say there's been a bit of a delay since then." Said Stryker

"What does this have to with me?" she asked

"Well, to put it plainly Claire, Logan was the prototype, and you are going to be our upgrade. The two of you share the same cellular regenerative abilities, so you should be able to survive the process just as he did, but we have also made some improvements as well so you won't be going off all haywire and berserk on us like Wolverine." He said proudly

"Please don't do this; I'm just a kid… I'm only sixteen." Claire could feel the tears welling in her eyes, she hated herself for not being stronger, for being so weak that she unable to protect herself from being a victim. What good is it in having the power to heal if you're still just prey to be hunted down and fed upon by people who are stronger than you? Most of all, she hated herself for breaking down in front of this man… This monster…

"Oh Claire don't cry now, like I said we won't hurt you. Hell we couldn't hurt you even if we wanted too." Said Stryker

"Please just let me go, please." Said Claire

"Now, now, we can't possibly do that. We've already put too much money and effort into everything, what with transporting the two of you all the way back here, tranquilizing you, housing you, clothing you, providing you with food and toiletries. That doesn't come cheap you know, besides, the adamantium should be ready for the bonding process in a few hours so if I were you I'd get some rest." Stryker said in the most nonchalant manner.

Bonding process! Claire didn't like the sound of that at all. "No!" Claire screamed and launched herself at him again, this time connecting with a solid shoulder blow to his midsection.

Unfortunately however, it did very little to nothing to him. Instead of knocking him to the ground, like Claire intended, Stryker merely brushed it off like it was nothing and used Claire's own momentum against her, and swung Claire around into a rear-naked choke hold. Using his height and levered to his advantage, Stryker leaned back and lifted Claire's body off the ground. She kicked and thrashed as the air to her lungs, and the blood flow to her head was cut off. She was beginning to pass out and was panicking. She tried with every last bit of energy she had left in her to break Stryker's hold on her, but she was too weak and Stryker, despite his age and appearance, was too strong.

"Now, now, it'll all be over soon. Just go to sleep and everything will be fine in a few hours." Stryker whispered in her ear as she faded from consciousness.

Her body going limp, Stryker tucked his arm underneath her legs and gently laid her down on the cot in her cell. Tenderly brushing the hair from her face, he stared down at the young beauty, and smiled.

"You really are a pretty little thing aren't you?" He said more to himself rather than to the sleeping teenage girl in front of him; smoothly gliding his hands slowly from her angel-like face, down her long neck and fully developed breasts. Felling the soft, fuzzy wool of the sweater beneath his hand, he began to knead and cup them gently, and then finally moving further down to her warm inner thighs and what lay between them. Impure thoughts ran through his mind as his hands explored her body, but his thought were interrupted however when he was summoned over the hand-held radio which was clipped to the back of his belt.

"What is it?" Stryker said as he responded on his hand-held.

"You wanted us to inform you when we began the adamantium re-liquefaction procedure sir." One of the technicians stated.

"Good… Yes, very good. I'll be there shortly." Stryker responded and got up to leave the room. "We'll have to finish this another time my dear." He smiled and locked the door behind him.

Making his way down the corridor, he couldn't help but grin to himself, everything was coming together according to plan. This time there wasn't going to be any mistakes. This time everything was going to be perfect. Entering the test chamber he began to think about his first creation, Wolverine was a great work of art, but he was flawed, as in most cases with prototypes. But this time, everything would go exactly as he envisioned. The 'upgrade' will be a vast improvement over the original.

"Everything is going well sir; the adamantium is hitting its melting point and beginning to re-liquefy as we speak." Stated one of the scientists in charge of the project.

"Good, and what the re-conditioning procedure, how is that coming along?" Asked Stryker

"Very well, the programming you've requested has been installed into the data banks and will only need to be uploaded once the bonding process actually begins." Said the scientist

"Excellent. I have to admit, this is turning out to be a very productive day. Wouldn't you agree?" Stryker smiled

"Of course sir, I couldn't have asked for a better day."

Claire could hear muffled voices coming from somewhere calling her name as she slowly began to regain consciousness.

"Claire! Claire! Hey kid! Come on girl wake up!"

"Logan? Is that you?" She asked softly.

Logan, unable to hear her, called out again. "Claire! Are you alright!? Come on Claire wake up!" he shouted and banged his gauntlet encased hands against the glass.

Claire slowly got to her feet and walked over to the window, gazing across the corridor to the other cell she saw Logan, awake and alert, on his feet standing in front of own prison window, still wearing his medical gown and with his pants on no less.

"How did you get your pants on!?" she shouted through the glass.

"With great difficulty!" He shouted

Hearing his muffled voice through the window, Claire laughed at his response. "I bet!"

"Are you okay!?" Logan asked

"Yeah I'm okay; for now anyway! That bastard Stryker choked me out and threw me on that sorry excuse for a bed!" said Claire

"Son of a bitch, I'll kill him." Logan said to himself, "Did he do anything else to you!?"

"I don't know, I don't think so! Not yet anyway! He said that you've been through all of this before! That you were the first one or something! Do you know what's going on here!?" said Claire.

Logan thought as hard as he could, but his memories were betraying him and wouldn't let him remember anything about Stryker or this place… At least not everything…

"I don't know! This place feels familiar, but I can't remember anything! Damn it, I can't remember! All I know is that they had me strapped down to a metal rack and lowered me down into some boiling chemicals earlier! They put these damn things on my hands and I can't get them off! The next thing I knew was waking up in here wearing this damn hospital dress!" Logan shouted in anger, as much as he wanted to remember everything that has happened to him in his life, he just couldn't.

"He said that you were some sort of prototype or something, and that I was going to be some stupid upgrade! He said that we had the same abilities and that something went wrong before, but that it won't happen this time!" Shouted Claire, hoping to jog Logan memories that could help them escape from their prisons.

As much information that Claire was giving, none of it was helping… He just couldn't remember a damn thing about his past, or who these people really were.

"I'm sorry Claire, but I just can't remember anything! I'm sorry!" said Logan, and then tensed as he saw Stryker along with a group of soldiers and nurses making their way down the corridor. "Claire they're coming!"

"Oh god…" Claire said to herself as her door unlocked from the outside and swung open. "Leave me alone!" she screamed.

"Now, now Claire just calm down and everything will be alright." Said Stryker

"Stryker you fat-ass, son of a bitch! You leave her alone!" Logan screamed though the glass and pounded against it with his gauntlets. However, the glass on the window was of military ballistic grade and nearly ten inches thick, so no matter how much he struck the glass it wouldn't break.

"Get the hell away from me!" Claire screamed and tried in vain to run away, but was immediately restrained by the soldiers. One of the nurses rolled in a wheel chair with leather straps on the arm and foot rests. The soldiers slammed her into the chair and held her down while the nurses tied the straps tight. "You can't do this!"

"Actually my dear, yes I can. You see no one knows you're here, not the police, not your family, and not the company your father used to work for… No one, so in point of fact is; no one is going to miss you." Said Stryker

"Let her go!" Logan screamed from his cell. But it was no use, he was forced to watch this mad man, tie down and torture this sweet young girl Claire, and turn her into one of his experiments.

"Let's go." Stryker said and they proceeded to the test chamber.

"Claire!" Logan screamed

"Logan help!"

Logan pounded on the glass as hard as he could, desperate to break through it. Again and again he would hit it with his gauntlets, but nothing would work. He turned his attention to the door and ran into it with his shoulders, trying to knock it off its hinges, he kicked it and hit it with everything he could… But nothing worked, all the while Stryker merely stood outside the glass window laughing at him.

"Logan my dear boy you haven't learned!" Stryker laughed

"Go to hell!" He yelled

"The glass is military grade and the door and all the surrounding support is made of adamantium, just like your gauntlets. You're not going anywhere. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Stryker bellowed and continued on his way.

"Stryker I swear if you hurt that little girl I'm going to track you down and kill you! Stryker don't you touch her! Get back here! Stryker!" Logan yelled at the top of his lungs, but it didn't matter, Stryker was well out of hearing distance, Logan was tapped in his cell and Claire was at the mercy of a sadistic, mad-man.

Claire was trembling in fear as she was rolled into the testing chamber; it looked like something out of an old horror movie. Everything was dark, it smelled of chemicals and the air was stifling. She saw the metal rack that Logan described and the large vat below it, there was also some sort of cauldron or something at the head of it with some silver colored liquid inside. It bubbled and popped and she could see steam rise from it as it continued to boil. Suddenly a group a scientists surrounded her and began attaching electrodes to her temples.

"Okay Claire, this won't take long, they're just going to put those on you so it'll easier to monitor your vitals and upload the necessary programming into your cerebral cortex during the bonding process. That way we can knock out three things at once, it's a much more efficient way of doing things that the way we attempted to do so the last time." Said Stryker

"You mean with Logan?" Claire spat

"Yes, as I said before, he was the prototype. There were bound to be mistakes, but we've learned from them and have made the corrections that we need. Now Claire if you don't mind, when the soldiers release the restraints on you, if you could be kind enough to remove your clothes so we can move forward I would greatly appreciate it." Stryker smirked, along with half of all the other males in the testing chamber.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! No way! Fuck you!" Claire cursed at him, wishing he was dead.

"Now Claire we can do this the easy way… Or we can do this the hard way… Which will it be?" he asked.

"Fuck you Stryker! I won't be your fucking guiney pig!" she yelled

"Okay then, suit yourself."

Without missing a beat the soldiers grabbed her shoulders while Stryker grabbed the back her head and forced it down. Struggle as she might, there was nothing she could do… Stryker pulled out a small syringe from his pocket and dropped a few drops of a clear liquid onto the back of her neck. Almost instantly Claire stopped struggling and became docile.

"The easy way." One of the soldiers joked, and the other one laughed.

"Okay Claire, let's do this again shall we, when the soldiers remove your restraints you're going to take off your clothes and lay down on the rack and allow the personnel to tie you down and do their jobs. Understood?" said Stryker

"Yes sir." Claire said as she raised her head, her eyes changing from emerald green to shimmering silver.

"Good." Said Stryker and nodded to the soldiers. They did as they were instructed to do and removed the restraints from Claire and stepped back.

As they finished she slowly stood to her feet and began to take off her sweater. Dropping it to the floor, she unhooked her bra and let that fall as well. Unzipping her pants and letting them slide down to her feet, she kicked them off and finally slipped off her panties, and tossed them to the side too. Of course the soldiers and all the other men couldn't help but stare and grin like a group of immature high school boys in the presence of a nude girl. Claire laid down on the rack as the female scientists tied her down, disgusted with the behavior of their male counter parts. The chains were locked, the electrodes were attached and finally the needled tubes were inserted, or more like stabbed, into Claire's body. They had to make sure that the needles penetrated the bones of her skeleton. One final check over the equipment and the patient and everything was indicated as 'green.'

"Good; very good. Well ladies and gentlemen, let get under way." He said

Stryker stood in the observation booth, gleaming with pride; he is finally creating the perfect weapon in the war that's sure to come. Wolverine was a good attempt, but ultimately a failed one. This one however, will be successful, he knew it will be. He could feel it in his bones.

Claire was lowered into the vat and the liquid adamantium began to flow through the tubes into her body. The electrodes attached to her sent back data on her vital signs, and everything that they anticipated was going exactly as they had planned for.

"Sir, the computer is asking to confirm upload process at this time." One of the computer technicians stated.

"Tell it 'yes,' it is confirmed." Said Stryker.

The technician punched in a few commands and turned to Stryker once again, "It's asking for the confirmation pass code for the upload program sir."

"Deathstrike…" Stryker said, and smiled to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_**Introductions and New Beginnings**_

"_Mutants… Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, and often hatred. Across the planet the debate rages… Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain, or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way, it is a historical fact that sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute."_

– **Henry "Hank" McCoy**

**Westchester, New York, USA**

Marie was sitting in the den area outside of Professor Xavier's office. When Storm and Jean came back at the business of a gun she was scared to say the least. What was surprising was that Peter actually knew the guy who was pointing it at them, and ever since then Peter, Storm, Jean, the Professor and the guy from India have been in the Professor's office. She had no clue what they were talking about and felt a little mad about being 'shelved' when it came to stuff like this. She was down in the lower levels outside the launch area with Peter when they ran into the guy, so why wasn't she there in the office talking about what happened along with everyone else? She hated being treated like a little child.

"Hey Rogue!" shouted a male voice.

She turned her head to see Bobby Drake walking in her direction along with John Allerdyce. Bobby liked to be called Iceman because of his cryokinetic abilities, and John preferred to be called Pyro because of his pyrokinetic powers. Ice and Fire, two completely different and opposing powers and yet they seemed to be the best of friends. She always thought it was kind of ironic.

"Hi Bobby, hi John." She said.

"Hey Rogue, what's going on?" said Bobby

"I don't know, they're talking to the guy that had Storm and Jean at gunpoint earlier." She said

"Were you there?" asked Pyro

"Yeah, Peter and I were going down there to the launch area to meet with them and then we saw him pointing at gun at them, and the weird thing is that it looked like Peter and the other guy seemed to know each other." Said Marie.

Bobby momentarily stiffened at the sound of Peter's name. It was no secret that he was attracted to her and that he has been trying to win her affections, but every time he thought he was making some progress with Rogue, Peter would always somehow show up and ruin it.

"Really, they know each other? You're right that is pretty weird." Said Pyro.

"How long have they been in there?" Bobby asked.

"For about an hour now." She said

"I wonder what they're talking about." Pyro said

"Yeah, me too." Said Marie

"… Then we flew here to the mansion on that jet of theirs, and well, you know the rest." Mohinder said, completing his part of the tale that transpired with him after the events at Kirby Plaza in New York four months ago.

"So what happened to Matt? Did he go back home after he got out of the hospital?" asked Peter.

"Yes for a little while, but after he took a paternity test and found out that the baby his wife was carrying wasn't his, he filed for a divorce, moved back to New York and has been helping me with Molly ever since. He's trying to get a position in the local police department right now actually." Said Mohinder

"What about Molly, how is she doing? Didn't she have any other family to take care of her?" Peter asked

"No unfortunately, Sylar murdered her only family. So Matt and I have been taking care of her, he's trying to adopt her." Said Mohinder

"Really? That's a good thing to do for her, I bet she's happy about that." Said Peter

"Yes she is actually; she's a good girl and deserves a safe place to grow up in." Said Mohinder.

"Professor Suresh," interrupted Storm, "that's one of the things we wanted to talk to you about. We can provide a safe and secure environment that Molly needs, and we can also teach her how to use her ability in place where she doesn't have worry about being ridiculed or feared for who she is."

"I'm not quite ready to make that decision just yet, and frankly both Matt and I would need to discuss it over with Molly. In the end it's her decision to make, and if she says 'no' then that's final. But if she says 'yes' then we'll let her enroll in the school. However, I still need some assurances about this facility and what it is you really have to offer here." Mohinder replied.

"Well of course Professor Suresh, anything you wish to know about us and our school we'll be more than happy to answer your questions." Said Storm

"Mohinder…"

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Mohinder, Professor Suresh was my father, and I would like it if you would call me by my first name." Mohinder smiled

Storm blushed for a moment and smiled back, "Sure thing, um… Mohinder."

"You know Peter; you haven't really explained what happened to you after Kirby Plaza. The last I saw you, you were flying into the air by your brother Nathan and then you exploded." Said Mohinder.

"Yeah, about that… I'm still not ready to talk about everything that happened after that… Let's just say that I survived the explosion, obviously. I was able to take Nathan to a nearby hospital and then I took off. I couldn't risk being around people, not with my powers being as unstable as they were, and after a few months of wandering around every where I eventually ended up here about a few weeks ago." Peter would say no more than that. There was much to explain about his whereabouts during the four months since the 'incident,' as he's come to call it, a lot of things actually, but he just wasn't ready to talk about everything… Not yet…

"Kirby Plaza in New York? You mean that giant explosion that happened over the city was you?" said Jean

Peter hung his head low in shame, the memories of what had transpired there was still fresh I his mind, like it happened yesterday. He couldn't control his powers and was on the verge of becoming a mass murderer. That is until Nathan came in, and saved the city… From him…

"Yeah it was…" said Peter.

"So it was you that I sensed in the skies that night four months ago." Xavier stated.

"What? What are you talking about Professor?" asked Peter

"Several months ago I sensed the presence of a powerful mutant over the city that night at the same time a tremendous explosion occurred in the sky above it. But only for a brief moment, and then the presence I felt faded away. At first I had thought that the mutant had died in that explosion but as time passed by I had a lingering feeling that the mutant might still be alive. However before I was able to send my people to investigate, a news report showed the events that happened at Kirby plaza. Apparently there was an undercover investigating journalist who was digging into the illegal business dealings of the Linderman Group at his New York headquarters when the events that you described occurred. He was dressed as a security guard in order to gain access to the building and recorded everything from a hidden camera in his uniform. It revealed the presence of people at Kirby Plaza who displayed 'unnatural super-human' abilities, as the news report stated." Xavier stated to Peter's shock.

Peter had not known that everything had been televised on national TV, in fact he has been far behind in the News ever since that night. He just didn't want to be around too many people because of what happened and ending up blocking out most of the modern world.

"That single event exposed the existence of mutants to the entire world." Said Jean, "Not only was the nuclear explosion caught on camera, but the federal government detected both the explosion and radiation emitted from it on their radars."

"How much radiation?" asked Peter

"A lot actually." Said Jean

"Was anyone affected by radiation poisoning? Did anyone fall sick from it at all?" Peter asked again very worriedly.

"Not that we know of, all the news reports indicate that the wind blew most of the radioactive fallout out to sea. But the government is still doing some last minute tests before they pack it up for good." Jean answered.

"Thank god no one was hurt, hopefully everything will be better now." Said Peter

"I'm not so sure about that. Ever since the incident at Kirby Plaza, the Senate is in discussions about possibly passing legislations to have all mutants register with the federal government." Said Storm

"Can they really pass something like that? I mean, is it even constitutional?" asked Peter

"I don't know, but with the way things are looking right now, I can definitely say that it's not going in our favor. There are those in the Senate that say that all mutants have to be treated as possible threats to national security. That, with all the powers that mutants are capable of possessing, it may only be a matter of time before one of us are successful in destroying an entire city. Like with what almost happened in New York." Said Storm

"It's all my fault." Peter said to himself as he began to pace the room.

"Peter it's no one's fault, it was an accident. An accident that thankfully resulted in no one becoming injured." Xavier said trying to ease Peter's guilt.

"It doesn't matter; if it wasn't for me then none of us would have been exposed like this. I couldn't control my powers and it nearly wiped the city off the map and would've massacred millions of innocent people along with it. Now people are going think that we're all dangerous monsters that deserve to be locked up or worse before someone gets killed." Peter said, trying to contain his emotions inside of him.

Peter then felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Mohinder standing behind him with a sympathetic look on his face.

"Peter it's all in the past now, what we have to do is look toward the future and try to find a way to resolve the issue at hand before it blows out of proportion. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over." Said Mohinder

"But that's my point, I didn't have control, and I should have. Now the world knows about us and the government is trying to take steps to catalog and record us like criminals or something." Said Peter

"Come on Peter, we don't know that, and besides nothing has been passed yet. We still have time to change their minds. Everything will be worked out in the end, you'll see." Said Mohinder

"So Pro… I mean Mohinder; does that mean that you're with us?" Storm asked

"Not necessarily, I still want to make sure that Molly would be safe here." Mohinder replied

"Of course she will be. In fact, Storm why don't you escort Mohinder on a guided tour of our facilities and show all that we have to offer." Xavier said

"Of course Professor, I'd love too." Storm said, before she realized how she said it and blushed.

"I'd love that as well Miss Munroe." Mohinder smiled.

"Call me Storm, everyone else does." She smiled in return.

"Alright then, Storm, I would like it very much if you could take me on a tour of this school of yours." Said Mohinder

"Right this way." She said and led Mohinder out into the main hall.

Xavier rolled his wheelchair to cut Peter off as he started to make his way out. "You know Peter, if you need to talk to anyone, I am here. I can help you with your problems you're going through."

"With all due respect Professor, not now, I know you mean well but I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. Maybe someday I will be, but not now." Peter said solemnly.

"Okay Peter, when you're ready, I'll be here to listen." Xavier smiled.

"Thanks Professor." Peter said and joined the others outside the office.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Pyro said

"Yeah, me too." Said Marie

Suddenly the door opened to reveal the Indian guy and Storm walking out followed by Jean. Marie saw Peter behind them talking with Professor Xavier, and she wanted to go him but she was cut off when Storm stepped in front of her.

"Rogue, I would like you to meet Mohinder Suresh. He's a scientist and hopefully he will be working here at the school sometime soon." Storm said

"Hello, I'm sorry if I frightened you earlier with the gun and all." Mohinder said as he extended his hand.

"That's okay, my name's Marie but most people call me Rogue." She said as she took his hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you Rogue." Said Mohinder

After Marie had introduced herself to Mohinder she looked over to see Peter and the Professor come out of the Professor's office. A feeling of joy overtook her and she ran over to him with a big smile on her face. This of course didn't go unnoticed with Bobby as he watched her run to Peter and gave him a hug.

"What was that for?" Peter asked when he hugged her in return.

"You looked like you needed it." Said Marie

"What do you mean?" he asked

"Well I saw you coming out of the Professor's office looking sad and all, so I figured that you needed a hug. Are you okay?" she said

"Oh, yeah, everything is okay, don't worry about it. I was just thinking about some stuff, it's alright really." Said Peter

"You're lying, I can tell. Really Peter, are you okay?" Marie said as she looked into his eyes.

"I am, really, there's just some stuff on my mind right now." Peter said, he couldn't help but look into her eyes as she gazed into his.

Her deep brown eyes glistened with compassion, and he could tell that she genuinely cared for him, and he was beginning to care for her as well. In the short period of time that the two had known each other, both Peter and Marie had learned a lot about one another. Peter learned that she was born and raised in a city called Meridian, Mississippi. Marie told him that she had lived there her entire life. Her parents were pretty normal for the most part and she has always wanted to have an adventure and travel her way up to Alaska. But that was before her powers had manifested and she ended up accidentally putting a boy named Cody Robbins into a coma, just by kissing him. Must have been a horrifying moment, to have the very first person you've ever kissed to become hospitalized because of you, Peter had thought. She ran away not too long afterwards and eventually made her way to Alberta, Canada where the two of them met and eventually ended up here at Xavier's school.

In return Peter would talk about his family in Manhattan, about his Mom and Dad, and about his brother Nathan. He told her about growing up in the Petrelli family household and how their parents always held them to higher standards. She knew how much Peter had always looked to his older brother Nathan. She also knew about his dad's suicide and how his brother was elected to Congress. Peter also told her about how his powers first manifested when he jumped off the roof of a building believing that he could fly and the events that happened afterwards. Going to Texas to save a cheerleader that he didn't know, running into Sylar and fighting him. He told her about meeting a Japanese guy from the future, and then the younger version of the same guy in the present. Coming back to New York and running into the same girl from Texas again, only to find out the she's his niece and then fighting Sylar again. But he wouldn't anything about what happened in the fight or after that. Peter wouldn't give any details about what really happened in his last fight, he said he was still not ready to talk about it, that it brought back too many bad memories.

"You know Peter, when you're ready to talk to me and let me know what's on that mind of yours, I'm right here." She smiled warmly at him.

"I know Marie… Thank you." Peter smiled back.

"You're welcome Peter. So just explain to me exactly, how you know this guy and who is he?" Asked Marie

"Well remember me telling you about how I met the guy from the future on the subway?" said Peter

"Yeah, you said that you were talking to a scientist about people like us, with abilities and stuff when everything stopped and a guy from the future appeared and started talking to you." Said Marie

"Yeah well, that's him. Mohinder Suresh was the scientist I was talking with." Peter said and pointed to Mohinder.

"Oh wow, I never put the two together. I thought he was just some random guy you knew, I'm sorry." Said Marie

"There's nothing to be sorry about, I suppose I could've went into more detail about the things I went through. I guess I just always thought that I would never see anyone from my past again. I'd pretty much intended to leave everything I once had behind me, and start over somewhere else once I learned how to manage my abilities." Said Peter

"But you are starting over silly. You're here with us, learning how to use your powers just like we are." Said Marie

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Peter smiled

"Of course I am, now let's go show your friend around with Storm." She said

"Alright, let's do that." Said Peter

"I must say this facility of yours is magnificent." Mohinder exclaimed

"Thank you Mohinder, we try really hard to make sure that the students have everything they need and more." Said Storm

"What about everything down below? I doubt that the students need to have a supersonic jet in the basement anytime soon." He remarked.

"Well that's true, for the most part. Most of the students are either too young or simply don't want to stay on at the school after they've graduated. They want to go out into the world and make some sense of a normal life for themselves, start their careers and have families, and so on. But for those few who do choose to stay at the school when their education and such are complete, that's when the jet becomes involved. We train them to fly and other things of the like. There are also other rooms in the sublevels that we use to help train the students in the use of their powers so they won't become a burden or a danger to the outside world once they leave." She explained.

"Like what exactly?" he asked

"Well, we're on our way there now and I can show you personally." Storm smiled

"I'd like that." He smiled back.

Peter and Marie had joined the pair on the tour of the school at the beginning of it, answering a few questions here and there that Mohinder asked of them, but they mostly stayed in the back ground smirking to themselves at the interaction between Storm and Mohinder. It was quite obvious to the both of them that they were attracted to each other and wondered just how long it would take them to actually hook up as they entered an elevator that would take them to the lower levels.

They exited the elevator when it came to a stop and the doors opened up, Mohinder remembered this part of the lower level well, this was the same corridor he was in when he held Storm and Jean gunpoint before running into Peter. However, instead of turning in the direction of the launch bay, they were heading in the opposite direction. At the end of this long corridor was a huge, circular, metallic door with a giant 'X' on it, and Mohinder could only assume that this was where they were going. Along the way they passed by several glass displays within the walls that held some very generic, gray colored mannequins with different styles of leather suits and costumes.

When they entered the door, it led to another small corridor which forked to the left and right, both with identical doors as the first. Storm led the small group to the left and went into a control room. There were LCD computer monitors and keyboards everywhere, several rows of super computers set behind in a room behind the control area separated by a wall of Plexiglas while A/C units hummed in the room in order to keep them cool. Finally, in front of the main control area laid a giant glass window. It looked to be somewhere around six to eight inches thick, it was nearly twelve feet long and six feet high. However, the most amazing thing about this room wasn't what was in this room; it was what was in the room just beyond the observation window.

"This is the main control and observation station for the Danger Room." Said Storm

"Danger Room?" said Mohinder

"Yes, that room on the other side of the window is what we call the Danger Room. It's where we use the most advanced holographic technology in the world to train our students and other Mutants to control and use their powers in a safe and controlled environment." She explained

"I see…" Mohinder was left speechless as he gazed through the window into the enormous room ahead.

As he looked down he could see four people already, one of them was shooting laser beams out from his eyes, destroying some fast moving razor sharp spears which were being shot at him from a weird looking machine.

There was a second man who being fired at by what looked like half a dozen robots in Nazi uniforms, his skin turned to metal right before Mohinder's eyes and the bullets just bounced off of him like ping pong balls as the man bulldozed his way through them.

The third man flew through the air above the others on giant white wings like an Angel, dodging these strange looking hovering spheres with spikes on them. They were shooting the spikes at him as he flew through the air, but amazingly he was able to miss them all with ease.

Lastly there was a young girl in the room as well, probably no alder than sixteen. She was running through walls that would pop up out on the floor beneath her. Phasing through them as if they weren't even there, her powers reminded him of D.L Hawkins and his abilities.

"What do you think Mohinder?" Storm asked as she looked over her shoulder to smile at his open-mouthed, wide-eyed reactions to the scene below him.

"It's truly remarkable, but isn't this dangerous? They could get seriously injured down there?" he stated

"That's why they call it the Danger Room," Storm laughed. "But there's no reason to worry, there are safety precautions in place to make sure that no one actually becomes seriously wounded in the course of their training sessions. But we do try to make it as realistic as possible to create a sense of real danger and threats to their livelihood. That way they have a better idea of what to expect should they ever find themselves in an actual situation in which they would have to defend themselves, sometimes for their very lives. The outside world can be a cruel place sometimes, especially for Mutants." Said Storm

"I'm sorry if this sounds insulting, but it appears that you're trying to train your own personal army down there. I mean aren't there other ways to teach Mutants how to use their powers instead of putting them through this?" he asked

"It's not insulting, there are other ways yes, and we do explore those training methods first and foremost. Most of our students have no need to train in the Danger Room, some request training sessions in their because they like to test the limits of their power and control, and some like it because they get to destroy things without actually putting people in harm's way. They find it fun, mostly the boys." Said Storm

"Aw, of course," Mohinder said.

"The Danger Room, for the most part is for our staff and those students who have decided to stay on after they graduate from our school. We use it to help new members train and to keep ourselves in shape." She said

"Well your body is already in stunning shape I see no re…" Mohinder blurted out loud before he was able to catch himself.

Storm blushed deeply, but was somehow able to manage a smile. "Umm… W-would you l-like to, uh, go down a-and, uh, meet them?"

"Y-yes, I would. T-thank you." Mohinder said

Peter and Marie stayed behind for a little bit while Mohinder and Storm left the control room. Stifling their laughter as they passed by, they couldn't help but to let it out when they left. Marie was laughing so hard that tears ran down her face.

"That was priceless." She said.

"Can you say awkward?" Peter remarked and was finally able to catch his breath after several moments. "Okay, I think we should join them now."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Marie said

Joining them in the Danger Room, Storm was already introducing Mohinder to the others.

"This is Scott Summers, Warren Worthington III, Piotr Rasputin, and Kitty Pride." Storm said to each of them respectively.

"Cyclops." Said Scott

"Angel." Said Warren

"Colossus." Piotr said with a Russian accent.

"You can just call me Kitty, some people call me Shadowcat, but I like Kitty." Kitty said and waved at Peter and Marie.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Mohinder said as he shook of their hands.

"So you're our new resident scientist?" Scott asked

"Well not yet, I still haven't decided, but I'm very impressed with this school of yours." Said Mohinder

"It's our pride and joy." Said Warren

They all made some small talk and generally got to know one another a little better, after about twenty minutes or so they parted ways as Storm led Mohinder to another part of the underground facility while Cyclops, Angel, Colossus and Kitty continued with their training scenario for the day.

"Where are we going now?" asked Mohinder

"With any luck, to meet up with your future colleague, if he's still there that is. He usually takes a late lunch because he's always working on something." Said Storm

"What's Henry working on now? Is it still the same thing?" asked Marie

"Yes, I'm afraid so. He's so fervent on finding out how exactly Mutants are different from normal humans. He's so intent on finding the genes that makes us separate that even though he takes a late lunch, he almost always misses dinner and ends up getting very little sleep. Hopefully, you will be able to help him out with his work Mohinder; I know he's been eager to meet you." Storm smiled.

"Really? But I'm not any one famous." He said

"He's read your father's book "Activating Evolution," and he knows that you've been carrying on his work. He's wanted to meet you for quite some time now, in fact I think he's based the bulk of his work based on yours' and your father's models, but I have to admit, it's beyond my understanding." Storm said as they finally reached the lab. "Ah, here we are."

As the door slid open to the lab the first thing he saw a very large, very blue and very hairy man hanging upside from the ceiling going over some computer readouts in a white lab coat, mumbling to himself.

"Hank." Storm called out.

"Just a few more minutes Ororo, I'm still going over the nucleotide base pairs and trying to differentiate them between those of..."

"Hank, Professor Mohinder Suresh is here." She said, interrupting him before he goes into one of his usual scientific techno-babbles that she would be completely lost on.

"Oh really!? Excellent!" he exclaimed and dropped down from the ceiling landing on his feet.

Walking over to the group he extended his hand out to him with a great big smile on his face, "Hello there, my name is Doctor Henry McCoy, but you can call me Hank. Everyone does."

Mouth agape, Mohinder slowly took his hand. The feeling of fur was bizarre; it was thick but not coarse. On the contrary, it was actually soft, more like hair than fur. The coloring was definitely something to get used to, he couldn't think of anything in nature that was covered in blue fur.

"I-I'm sorry for staring Doctor McCoy, but I… Uh, I…"

"A little lost for words I see, it's quite alright. I understand, seeing a full grown man with a thick coat of blue fur hanging upside down from a ceiling can take some getting used to." Hank laughed. "As I said, call me Hank."

"Sure thing, Hank." Mohinder said

"Aw, I see you're already here." A voice said from behind. Turning around Mohinder saw Professor Xavier and Jean coming into the lab with big smiles on their faces.

"Hello Professor." Said Mohinder

"So Mohinder, you've enjoyed the tour of our facility I trust." Xavier said, more as a statement instead of a question.

"I have actually, and the place is indeed fascinating, that much is undeniable. The student dormitory and amenities are first class, and everything underground n the lower levels are practically unimaginable, I have to say I am more than simply impressed with what you've done here." He praised

"Thank you Mohinder, but I sense there is still something else on your mind." Xavier said

"There is actually, the entire time while Storm has been showing me the mansion above and everything down here as well, I have to ask… Where do you get the funding for a place like this? Surely there must be some sort of income in order to properly maintain and requisition all of this technology you have at your disposal, let alone just the normal resources for being able to live here." Mohinder asked

"Hmm… You know Professor I have to admit, that is a good question. The kinds of revenue needed would have to be in the tens of millions a year, most likely more considering everything that actually goes into this place." Said Peter

"Well, my family has always been well off. Even before the Second World War, my parents were always keen investors in the stock markets. It was also how my grandparents were able to survive the Great Depression without losing more than a quarter of their net holdings. I suppose you can say that investing in the stock market trade is in my blood. So a substantial amount of the money comes from my inheritance from when parents died, they left everything to me. Stocks, mutual funds, CD's, everything, but I also have investments of my own. I'm actually a substantial share holder in Yamagato Industries in Japan. I have an old friend who is the president and CEO of the company and has been generous in giving me a few inside tips." Xavier smiled

"Insider trading? Isn't that illegal Professor?" Jean said accusingly and a slight smirk on her face.

"Well… It's not exactly insider trading, Kaito just gives me a few tips on what he's going to buy or sell and offers me a few suggestions on what he would do in my position and the like." Xavier said trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Uh-huh…" Jean retorted raising an eyebrow

"I never claimed to be a saint you know, and besides the 'suggestions' do help out the school in the long run." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned

"Anyway… What do you think Mohinder? Have you made any decisions on our offer at joining our school?" asked Jean

"As I said before I'll have to talk this over with Molly and Matt and see where they stand with this. But I am 'intrigued' let's say, and leave at that for now. I would like a contact number if you have one when I do come up with my verdict." Mohinder stated

"Sure we can give you one." Said Storm

"Long day huh?" Marie asked Peter as they were making their way to their respective rooms for the night.

"Yeah, it was." Peter smiled

"So what do you think he'll do? Do you think he'll come to the school?" she said

"Probably, I know he wants to do what's in the best interest for Molly. I also know that Mat is trying to adopt her, so it's technically not Mohinder's decision or Matt's really. It's all up to Molly whether or not she would want to leave and come here." Peter said as they made it to Marie's room.

"How well do you know her?" Marie asked as she opened her door and stepped in.

Peter stood by the entrance, tentative about following Marie inside. "Molly? Not very well actually, I know that her parents were murdered by Sylar and that the Company kidnapped her you can say and tried to use her in one of their experiments. She hasn't had a very happy childhood recently. I've never actually met her in person either." Said Peter

"You know you come inside Peter, you don't have to stand out in the hall, it's okay." Marie said as she hopped on her bed.

"I really shouldn't, I'm sorry but I need to be getting to bed anyway." Peter said and saw the look of disappointment in her eyes. "Good night Marie."

"Good night Peter." She said and watched as he walked away towards his own room. Biting her lip, she fought to hold back the tears she could feel building up behind her eyes. She just wanted to talk with him some more and didn't understand what it was she was doing wrong. Today had been such a wonderful day for her. Spending it with Peter, walking and talking with him about almost anything, even though they were supposed to be with Storm and Mohinder. She didn't care what the other two were really doing, she just enjoyed being with Peter… And she didn't want it to end.

Peter on the other hand took his shirt off and laid on top of the covers of his bed, his mind kept racing through the events of the day. It all started out with Marie and him strolling through the garden outside having a pleasant conversation and then the unexpected incident with Mohinder showing up holding Jean and Storm at gunpoint. Then spending the rest of the day walking side by side with Marie, having their own private conversations as Storm led Mohinder around the school showing him everything. Even though the three of them were technically taking Mohinder on the 'guided tour,' Storm really did all the work while he and Marie were doing their own thing. He felt real close to her today, closer than he had felt before… Much, much closer than he should've felt for a girl of her age. He loved hearing her accent when she spoke, the way her hair would bounce when she walked, and the way her eyes shimmered when he would into them. She just looked so happy and there were several times during the day where he wanted to take her hand and kiss her, but immediately stopped himself when he realized what he was thinking. He didn't want to take the chance of losing his self control by going into her room and end up doing something he would regret later on.


End file.
